


Dead Serious

by orphan_account



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Death, F/F, F/M, Humanstuck, Shipping, Violence, Zombies, Zombiestuck, but mostly violence and people dying, everyone is 18 years old, i swear like a sailor, implied suicide, maybe some fluff later on, ok maybe not that many deaths but lots of dead people
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-17
Updated: 2015-06-14
Packaged: 2018-03-01 14:22:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 37,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2776253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the world is overrun by dead cannibalistic lunatics near the end of summer, survivors try to withstand the obstacles they meet in order to get through the impending apocalypse as they become willing to do almost anything to preserve their own lives.<br/>Humanstuck, Zombiestuck. All characters are 18 years old.<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Pilot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karkat Vantas recalls spending his free time watching a movie that he heard was outstanding, but the world seemed to have different plans.

"It's a metaphor, see: You put the killing thing right between your teeth, but you don't give it the power to do its killing." 

     Karkat sighed. "What a stupid fucking metaphor. Congratulations, Augustus Waters, for taking out a cigarette in front of the girl you love who just so happens to have lung cancer." He continued watching the popular new movie  _The Fault In Our Stars_  as he sat in his bedroom with his laptop on his lap. So many people were hyped up about the movie and it was supposedly outstanding, so Karkat decided to finally buy the DVD and see it for himself.  _It's not so bad,_ he thought.

     His room was neat and tidy and so was everything in it, except himself. He wore his usual pajamas, which were just a black sweater and a pair of gray sweatpants, and his messy, dark brown hair complimented the bags under his tired brown eyes. He hadn't left his house very often and spent most of his time watching and reading various romantic-comedy movies and novels, and sometimes he even tried to do a little programming on his computer even though he always sucked at it and his best friend would always make fun of his failures and how many times he broke his computer. Why wouldn't he find it funny? He was like a master hacker and software engineer and was going to major in computer science once he started going to college. Well it was't like Karkat hadn't considered majoring in the same thing too, but he wasn't the one being begged by two different prestigious universities to apply because of his talent and good grades in school. Karkat wasn't even completely sure what he wanted to major in yet, even though he and all his other friends had graduated high school just last year.

     Soon enough, his cell phone vibrated next to him for the 20th time. Okay it wasn't really 20 times, but it was quite a few. Karkat silently cursed to himself as he gave up ignoring it and paused the movie to pick up his phone. 

\-- twinArmageddons  [TA]  began pestering carcinoGeneticist  [CG]  \--  
TA: hey.  
TA: kk.  
TA: vanta2.  
TA: there'2 an iidle button for a rea2on, you know.  
TA: fuck, you're not actually watchiing that 2tupiid moviie are you?  
TA: ii'll waiit.  
CG: SOLLUX, WHAT THE FUCK IS *SO IMPORTANT* THAT YOU HAVE TO MESSAGE ME 20 TIMES IN ORDER TO GET MY ATTENTION?  
CG: AND FOR THE RECORD, YES, I'M ACTUALLY WATCHING THE MOVIE. AND IT'S NOT STUPID.  
TA: iit'2 about tiime you deciided to an2wer. and ii only me22aged you 6 tiime2, diip2hiit.  
CG: WHO CARES? OBVIOUSLY MY POINT IS THAT YOU'RE ANNOYING THE SHIT OUT OF ME WITH ALL YOUR MESSAGES.  
TA: wow, kk, har2h. that really hurt my feeling2.  
CG: NOW WHAT DO YOU WANT. I'M KIND OF IN THE MIDDLE OF A MOVIE HERE.  
TA: iit'll only take two miinute2, more or le22. iit depend2 on how cooperatiive you'll be.  
CG: UUUUUGH. JUST SPIT IT OUT SO WE CAN GET THIS OVER WITH.  
TA: fiine. ff want2 two ho2t some end-of-the-2ummer party at her hou2e 2o that we can all hang out together one la2t tiime before we all go off to college and work our a22e2 off wiith barely any freetiime for the re2t of our liive2.  
TA: and 2he a2ked me two iinviite you and 2ome other2.  
CG: YOU STILL TALK TO HER?  
TA: yeah.  
CG: I THOUGHT YOU GUYS BROKE UP A LONG TIME AGO.  
TA: we diid.  
TA: what, you thiink that u2 breakiing up mean2 that we are no longer friiend2 and allowed two 2peak?  
CG: NO, I JUST THOUGHT THAT ERIDAN WOULD HAVE SCARED YOU AWAY FROM HER BY NOW. YOU KNOW HOW PROTECTIVE HE IS OF HER  
TA: hone2tly ii don't know whether that'2 2uppo2ed two be an iin2ult or not. iif you really thiink that piiece of 2hiit would ever 2o much a2 iintiimidate me iin any way then you really need two re-evaluate 2ome thiing2.  
CG: WHATEVER. MOVE ON  
TA: 2o are you goiing two that party or not.  
CG: THAT DEPENDS. WHO ELSE IS GOING?  
TA: well obviiou2ly eriidan ii2 goiing 2iince he and feferii are together 2o there'2 one rea2on not two go.  
CG: ERIDAN? WHAT HAPPENED TO ED?  
TA: fuck no, he doe2n't de2erve my cool niickname2.  
CG: YOUR NICKNAMES ARE SHIT.  
TA: 2o are all the moviie2 you watch.  
CG: FUCK YOU.  
TA: anyway, ii'm pretty 2ure terezii ii2 goiing and 2o are tavro2 and vri2ka. gamzee and equiiu2 are al2o goiing.  
CG: WHAT ABOUT YOU?  
TA: yeah, unfortunately. aa ii2 draggiing me wiith her and iit'2 not liike ii have a choiice.  
CG: BY THAT DO YOU MEAN YOU ACTUALLY DON'T HAVE A CHOICE OR YOU JUST DON'T WANT TO SAY NO TO HER?  
TA: what?  
CG: OH MY GOD. NO OFFENSE TO TEREZI BUT YOU ARE SO FUCKING BLIND.  
TA: what the fuck are you talkiing about.  
CG: YOU SERIOUSLY DON'T THINK I KNOW ABOUT YOUR LITTLE THING FOR HER?  
TA: what thiing????  
CG: YOU KNOW WHAT THING. I'VE SEEN THE WAY YOU STARE AT HER AND SOMETIMES YOU EVEN FUCKING STUTTER WHILE YOU'RE TALKING TO HER AND NOBODY ELSE.  
CG: I HAVE SEEN ENOUGH ROM-COMS AND KNOWN YOU LONG ENOUGH TO KNOW WHAT IT MEANS SO DON'T FUCKING THINK I DON'T KNOW.  
CG: EVEN SOME DUMBASS WHO KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT THIS STUFF COULD FIGURE IT OUT.  
TA: oh my god.  
TA: karkat we are clo2e friiend2, nothiing el2e. ii can't beliieve you're 2tiill on thii2.  
CG: YEAH, THAT'S WHY YOU BLUSH WHENEVER SHE GETS CLOSE AND I CATCH YOU STARING AT HER WHEN SHE'S NOT LOOKING, HUH.  
TA: 2hut the fuck up. what about you and terezii? you 2eem two get jealou2 of every guy 2he talk2 two and you pay her an endle22 amount of chee2y compliiment2 whenever you can.  
CG: AT LEAST I'M HONEST WITH MYSELF AND I MAKE SOME MOVES INSTEAD OF SITTING AROUND FEELING SORRY FOR MYSELF.  
TA: hey fuck you, ii don't do that.  
CG: YEAH, YOU KEEP TELLING YOURSELF THAT.  
TA: anyway, back two the ORIIGIINAL POIINT.  
TA: are you goiing to feferii'2 liittle get-together or not?  
CG: YES, I'M GOING. BUT I SWEAR TO GOD IF GAMZEE BRINGS THOSE FUCKING HORNS WITH HIM AND STARTS BAKING THOSE HORRENDOUS PIES, I'M LEAVING.  
CG: WHEN IS IT ANYWAY?  
TA: iit ha2n't been deciided yet but 2he 2aiid iit wiill mo2t liikely be 2ometiime thii2 weekend.  
CG: WOULD WE EVEN BE ABLE TO MAKE IT TO HER HOUSE?  
TA: what do you mean?  
CG: THERE'S THIS WEIRD SICKNESS GOING AROUND THE CITY AND IT'S ALREADY KILLED OFF ALMOST A QUARTER OF THE POPULATION SINCE WE FIRST HEARD OF IT LAST WEEK. HASN'T IT EVER OCCURRED TO YOU OR ANYONE ELSE THAT MAYBE TRAVELING ISN'T EXACTLY A SMART DECISION AT THIS POINT IN TIME?  
CG: I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU BUT MY NEIGHBORHOOD HAS BEEN PAID A VISIT BY THREE AMBULANCES SINCE LAST WEEK.  
TA: you've been watchiing the new2, haven't you.  
CG: NO SHIT, WHERE ELSE WOULD I GET THIS INFORMATION?  
TA: kk ii'm 2ure we'll all make iit aliive.  
TA: all the dumba22 reporter2 have been doiing ii2 makiing thiing2 2eem a lot wor2e than they actually are and then gettiing paiid more because people paniickiing mean2 that theiir new2 wa2 pre2ented "a2 accurately a2 po22iible".  
TA: whiich iit wa2n't.  
CG: SO WHAT YOU'RE EXPECTING ME TO DO IS TO STOP WATCHING AND REMAIN COMPLETELY IGNORANT OF THE ENTIRE FUCKING SITUATION? AT LEAST I HAVE CONCERN FOR MY OWN HEALTH.  
TA: you have concern for your own health? that'2 2urprii2iing, comiing from a guy who 2tay2 awake almo2t every night.  
CG: OH SHUT THE FUCK UP, I CAN TELL BY LOOKING AT PESTERCHUM THAT YOU'RE UP LATE TOO SO DON'T GIVE ME THAT BULLSHIT.  
TA: at lea2t ii get 2leep.  
TA: anyway, ii have two go. my fuckiing 2pa2tiic brother ii2 yelliing at the piizza guy agaiin.  
CG: GREAT, YOU GO AND TAKE CARE OF THAT. CAN I GO BACK TO MY MOVIE NOW?  
TA: 2ure, go ahead.  
CG: IT'S ABOUT FUCKING TIME.  
\-- carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased pestering twinArmageddons [TA] \--

_Holy shit, he is so fucking annoying._

     Well talking to him longer than he would have liked was pretty much Karkat's fault by even bringing up his best friend's romance issues, but it was kind of hard for him not to knock some sense into him for denying his feelings for one of his closest friends. Romance was something Karkat was pretty good at, or at least that's what he thought. But it was the thought that counted, right?

     Karkat knew a lot of people, but most of them were really annoying to him. Even some of his own friends were, but there were just some things about them that made them friends in the first place. First there was his best friend Sollux, who he had known since kindergarten. They had always gotten into fights and claimed they hated each other, yet they were inseparable most of the time and stayed best friends. Then there was Terezi, who he had met in the 7th grade. He usually found her annoying, but they remained close friends. Karkat had a small crush on Terezi for a while, but he was never truly sure if she felt the same about him. He had met Gamzee in the 9th grade and they used to be okay friends; even though he annoyed him to the point of skipping school some days, he would always listen to Karkat if he had any problems to vent about. But when Gamzee began using drugs and alcohol in the 11th grade, he changed and Karkat began to hate him and tried his best to avoid speaking to him since. His place was taken by Kanaya, who Karkat had been friends with since 6th grade. She always listened and tried her best to help him, and as embarrassed as he was to admit it, she was like the mother he never had and he appreciated it. Everybody else he met either in middle or high school, and they weren't exactly friends of his, but he managed not to hate them too much.

     Watching the news wasn't exactly something Karkat liked to do everyday. He had to admit, it kept him informed about what was going on around him, but at the same time it always gave him reasons to hate the world even more than he already did. He had recently been hearing all these stories about people getting sick from some weird deadly illness that had spread throughout the city and it had been wiping people out quickly, and as much as he hated to admit it, it did begin to freak him out.

     He watched the movie _The Fault In Our Stars_ in hopes of getting that kind of stuff off of his mind for at least a little while. He had a conversation with his best friend that didn't seem all that joyful. His family didn't seem all that great to him; in fact, his brother and his father annoyed him pretty much everyday and so did almost everyone at school. He was angered by pretty much everything and he basically hated his life and himself in general. He then wished he would have appreciated everything more...

...in fact, now he would give anything to have all of it back because this is the last memory he had before all hell broke loose and humanity met face to face with extinction.


	2. Lost in the Woods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Four days into the apocalypse, Karkat and Kanaya are lost in the woods without food, water, and any other supplies except their weapons. Having been hungry and thirsty for quite a while, they struggle to find a decent shelter and are caught by exhaustion until they regain hope in survival after seeing certain entities in the distance. 
> 
> Karkat's POV.

     It's been a while since you last remembered what happened before this whole thing started. You've mostly been focused on surviving in this now dangerous world, and the fact that something as basic as eating was hard to do really says a lot about the shit you went though in the past four days. Or... you think it was four days? That's what Kanaya said. Keeping track of the days that go by isn't something you prioritize but you're thankful that you're with someone who does. 

Your name is Karkat Vantas and you've been on the run with Kanaya Maryam for four days since the apocalypse began. 

 

* * *

 

     Green and yellow leaves on the dry dirt surface crunch under tired feet as you and Kanaya step through secluded woods just outside of town. It's the beginning of August so the weather is hot and dry, which isn't exactly helping the hydration of any living thing.

     Your throat feels dry due to the fact that water hasn't been accessible since yesterday morning, and your black t-shirt is drenched in your sweat. One of the sleeves had been partially ripped off by a sharp branch in a bush you tried to get through earlier, you have small cuts all over your arms and your sides, and your oily skin is topped with dirt and sand from falling down multiple times. You would give anything for a cold shower and some new clothes, but it's not like that's a thing available to the public anymore. 

"Perhaps now would be a good time to rest." Kanaya declares, turning around to face you. 

     You could see the exhaustion in her face and how she is leaning against the bloody chainsaw in her hand. Her long, red skirt, stained with blood along with her black sleeveless top, is tattered from the branches in the woods and the physical fights she had gotten in (and won). Her breathing is heavy, her hair is a mess, and she licks her chapped lips in need of water. You guess that you'll both have to wait a little longer to find some water to drink, but you do know you both could really use a break from walking right about now. 

"Yeah," you reply with a deep breath and tire in your voice. "I'm really fucking exhausted." 

     You both walk over to a tree and sit down on the ground on either side of it, leaning back against it, dropping your own weapons beside you; you and your kitchen knife, Kanaya and her chainsaw. She would normally complain about getting her clothes dirty, but seeing as how she is already covered in blood spatter and her skirt is covered with holes, this isn't something she cares much about at this point in time. 

     You can't help but to blame yourself for your current situation. If you hadn't panicked and ran into the woods and actually tried to fight the dead guys chasing after you, you wouldn't be in this mess and Kanaya wouldn't have had to chase you and rescue your sorry ass. But staying inside your house wasn't exactly an option since a car burst in right through the kitchen wall with bloody, convulsing people sitting inside, screaming in pain. You have no idea what the fuck that was about, but judging by everyone else like them, they probably turned into some of those dead guys which is most likely why they tried to kill you. Thank God there was a frying pan within reach. 

"How much longer until we find something to drink?" You whine. 

Kanaya shakes her head. "It will most likely take quite a while unless we somehow find our way out of here." 

You sigh and rest your head on your arms as you bring your knees up to your chest. "Fuck. I can't believe I got us into this mess." 

"Karkat, you are not at fault. Not everyone is able to stay calm upon the sight of ravenous cannibals covered in blood and it is very realistic to panic in such a situation." 

"I just want to get the fuck out of here, we'll die if we don't find any shelter or something to eat or drink!" 

"Yes, that is most obvious, and I feel the same way. But we have to have patience and we can't start running around only with the hope that the direction in which we are traveling is the correct path to the exit." 

You remain silent. 

"Lets just take this moment to rest and then we can continue our journey when we have some energy." Kanaya continues.

     You both continue to rest on either side of the tree, cautious of your surroundings to make sure none of those dead guys are around. Speaking of dead guys, you really think you should find a better name for them. Corpses? No, you're pretty sure corpses would be dead dead and not half dead. Mummies? No, you're not in Egypt. Wow, coming up with names is harder than you thought. Fuck it, you'll just keep calling them dead guys. It's not like you actually have the energy to be coming up with stupid names at a time like this anyway.

     After a few minutes of small talk and sitting around, you look up into the sky to see if there are any clouds. Clouds would be pretty nice to see, considering the fact that they would bring rain, but unfortunately there are none to be seen. However, there is something else that catches your eye in the distance, but you can't quite make it out because of the tree leaves in the way. It's gray and poofy, and... wait... is that smoke? And you think you see a cell phone tower right next to it too. Your eyes widen and you jump up to face Kanaya who is still sitting on the ground.

"Kanaya! There's smoke!" You exclaim, hearing a slight crack in your scratchy voice. 

She turns around and looks up at you with questioning but curious eyes. "Smoke?"

"Yes! There's a tower right next to it too, we might be near the city."

     She stands up and eagerly walks over to stand by your side. "Where?" You point at the smoke you see and Kanaya follows the direction of your finger until she sees it too. "You're right. We should follow it before the smoke goes out." With that, you both grab your weapons and begin to head toward the direction of the smoke and the cell phone tower in the distance. Your feet still hurt and your muscles continue to ache, but for the first time in days you have hope that you would actually get out of this place alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry these chapters aren't that long, I'm focusing more on getting them done rather than the plot itself so expect a few more short chapters! But don't worry, I'll most likely start making them longer at some point. I think the next chapter will be focused on what's going on with Sollux, but I'm still planning this out.


	3. Stranded at Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sollux has been stuck in his apartment for the past 4 four days due to the fact that his building is full of the undead, but when he decides that he's had enough of sitting around waiting to be saved or killed, he packs up what he can and gets ready for a fight.

     You've been sitting in your apartment for the last four days, and you haven't exactly been able to leave. Your brother isn't home and neither is your dad, and they haven't been home since they left four days ago. You're wondering where they are right now and why they haven't returned, but judging by a chain of awful noises you just heard, you don't think you'll be able to see them again anytime soon.

Your name is Sollux Captor and you are stranded alone in a building full of dead people.

 

* * *

 

     You're extremely tired and also awfully bored as you are spending yet another uneventful day in your apartment. Well, aside from the occasional screaming and the frequent crashes from other rooms that always bother you, nothing really happens. The power in pretty much all of the apartment building went out and so did the internet, so you don't exactly have anything to keep yourself entertained with, and the signal on your cell phone is not so good. Sometimes you get two bars at most, and sometimes you get none.

     What the fuck is even happening out there? You would look out your window but all you could see is the side of another tall building. If you scoot to the side just far enough, you could see a bit of the street but that doesn't give you much to look at. You wish you could leave your apartment, but whenever you made any loud noise, there would be somebody violently banging at the door and screaming words that don't even exist and you don't even want to know what happens when you actually open the door. Most people would probably be too proud to admit how they feel, but you're going to be honest and say that you're absolutely confused and terrified of this whole situation. Judging by the noises you hear above, below, and around your apartment, you're going to guess that everyone around you is currently being brutally murdered and there's no way in hell you're ready to face whatever is killing them.

     You wish your father and your brother were here with you at this moment. They left to go grocery shopping four days ago but they never returned, and you tried calling them both multiple times but they never picked up. They usually annoy you, but you now realize that you'd rather be annoyed than as bored as you are now. You don't have that much food in your apartment left, and the pizza box sitting on the coffee table in front of you is empty. The stench of the pile of dirty dishes and the full garbage can sitting in the kitchen on the other side of the counter doesn't exactly make your stay here very pleasant. Not that it ever was. You'd wash those smelly dishes but there's no water, which is also why you smell like shit due to the fact that the shower does not work.

     You wish you could do something on your computer but again, the power is out, so it won't turn on. You're trying to preserve your phone's battery life in case someone important calls you, like your family. Maybe your good friend Karkat, or perhaps Aradia. She was the last person you spoke to and you're still really worried about her considering she told you she was on her way to find you and never showed up. You pick up your cell phone and connect to your carrier's mobile network, which surprisingly still exists, and you have one bar right now so you're able to connect to the internet for a little bit. Hopefully it doesn't drain too much of your battery.

     You open Pesterchum, a chat client you frequently use to talk to your friends, and the window that shows your previous conversation with Aradia is still open.

 \-- apocalypseArisen [AA] began pestering twinArmageddons [TA] \--  
AA: s0llux?  
TA: hey aa what'2 up.   
AA: i cant talk f0r l0ng because my dad t00k away my lapt0p again  
AA: he caught me sneaking 0ut t0 g0 digging again s0 he gr0unded me f0r even l0nger  
TA: you're 18 year2 old and he'2 2tiill punii2hiing you for that?  
AA: unf0rtunately yes  
AA: im starting t0 get tired 0f him trying t0 change me int0 s0meb0dy im n0t and always yelling at me and punishing me f0r d0ing things that make me happy  
TA: ii don't 2ee what'2 2o wrong about who you are that ha2 two be changed.  
TA: not that there'2 anythiing wrong wiith you at all.  
AA: he just wants me t0 be 0ne 0f th0se classy girls with perfect manners wh0 never get dirty and are always lady like and i d0nt want that  
AA: he even wants me t0 play the sax0ph0ne like he d0es  
AA: and damara is yelling at me again because she thinks i br0ke 0ne 0f her weird anime figurines  
AA: plus she has s0me guy 0ver and i really d0nt want t0 hear them getting at it again t0night  
AA: c0uld i stay with y0u f0r the night?  
TA: well iit'2 not that ii don't enjoy your company, but ii don't thiink comiing over here or anywhere near ii2 a good iidea.  
AA: why n0t?  
TA: well ii'm 2ort of trapped and the ciity ii2 fiilled wiith chao2 at the moment liike iit ha2 been for a whiile.  
AA: 0h n0  
AA: what happened?  
TA: uh.  
TA: aradiia plea2e tell me you're up two date on current event2.  
AA: n0 im s0rry  
AA: i've been gr0unded f0r the past week and i wasnt all0wed t0 g0 0n the internet 0r watch tv s0 im n0t caught up with the news  
TA: your jacka22 of a dad ha2n't told you anythiing? not even damara?  
AA: n0  
AA: im assuming its s0mething imp0rtant  
TA: yeah.  
TA: well ii'll giive you the gii2t of iit.  
TA: ba2iically a 2hiit ton of people got 2iick and now they're dyiing and eatiing each other.  
TA: 2ome of them happen two be my neiighbors whiich ii2 why ii'm trapped iin my apartment.  
AA: thats terrible!  
AA: are y0u 0kay?  
TA: well not exactly, con2iideriing ii'm runniing out of food and there'2 no power but you really 2hould 2tay home.  
AA: i cant stay here!  
AA: im c0ming 0ver  
TA: aradiia no, iit'2 too dangerou2 here!  
\-- apocalypseArisen [AA] ceased pestering twinArmageddons [TA] \--  


     This conversation was three hours ago and it only takes her about 30 minutes to get to your apartment from her house on foot, so you really hope she didn't get attacked on her way here. Not seeing your family for four days straight is enough and you haven't heard from Karkat at all since this whole thing started, and if it turns out that Aradia ended up becoming one of those creeps that are eating people, then you don't how you'll remain sane. You're surprised your sanity has even lasted this long. You're probably working yourself up over nothing. Aradia is probably fine. But no matter how many times you try to tell yourself that, you can't seem to stop worrying about her.

     You sigh as you lie down on the old, ugly sofa you've spent most of your time on during the days you've been trapped, running your fingers through your light brown hair and staring up at the plain, white ceiling. You're wrong and you're tired of denying it. Karkat was right when he kept pointing out that you like Aradia a lot more than as a friend. You've liked her for almost a year and a half now, but you've always denied it because you thought it was just a thing that would go away. Not to mention you highly doubt she would ever feel the same way considering the fact that she's had to put up with your bullshit since you met in 6th grade. You're in love with one of your best friends and you wish you had the guts to tell her before the world went to shit but you decided to keep it to yourself like the wimp you are and now she's probably dead.

     You don't know where your family is, you don't know where Aradia is, you don't know where Karkat is, and you don't know where anybody is. You feel like you're losing everybody you know and you want to get the hell out of this wretched apartment because you're slowing losing your mind. You want to find your friends and survive, and sitting around in an apartment waiting for something to kill you is not going to help you achieve that goal.

     You get up and hurry into your room to grab your school backpack, immediately dumping its contents onto the floor and stuffing it with a few shirts, pants, and socks. Socks are seriously an under-appreciated article of clothing and you refuse to get blisters on your feet, just fuck those. You grab a hoodie from your unorganized closet and wrap it around your waist by its thick sleeves, and you don't forget to pack your medication for your bipolar disorder, anxiety, and headaches complete with a bottle of water that sat on your dresser for a few days. Dry-swallowing pills is not something you enjoy. You go into the kitchen and fill the remaining space in your backpack with some bags of chips, canned soup and other goods, some apples you hope don't spoil too soon, cans of soda, and about two more bottles of water. You really have no idea how to survive on your own in this kind of situation since you never went camping and aren't exactly a master survivalist, but you hope that what you have now will keep you alive.

     You zip up your backpack and head for the door, and then-- oh wait, you forgot a weapon. You head back to the kitchen and grab the biggest, toughest knife you could find in the drawers. You hope that's good enough. You also grab a can opener because you just now remembered you have canned food in your backpack. Alright NOW you head for the front door, and you quietly put your ear up against the door and listen closely for any noise. You here some faint footsteps but they seem to disappear after just a few seconds. You swear if one of those things try to attack you you will stab it as much as you can because you are definitely sick and tired of this bullshit. You want out. Why can't you just jump out the window? That would be a lot quicker to escape, except you can't do that because there's no fire escape and you live on the 10th floor. You're trying to live, not die. You should have left with your family four days ago so you wouldn't be stuck in this mess, but it's not like you can travel back in time and change that. Your only option now is to open the door in front of you, and that's what you do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, well I finally managed to finish this chapter after days of procrastinating! I'm not very good at portraying the characters when it comes to having them do anything really, but I hope you can bare with me here. Also I've been working on this chapter and the next at the same so because of that, the next chapter is already about half way done and should be posted soon.


	4. Supply Hunt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vriska and Aradia spend hours going around the city scavenging stores and shops for supplies necessary for surviving an apocalypse. On their way to Vriska's house, they meet up with Eridan and Equius who will stay with them as well.

     The apocalypse has been going on for four days and you only just last night found out about it. If your dad had granted you internet access instead of grounding you, you would have been aware of and prepared for this situation, but you had no idea what you were getting yourself into when you ran away from home to find one of your best friends who you thought was in grave danger.

Your name is Aradia Megido and you are leaving town in the passenger seat of Vriska Serket's car.

 

* * *

 

     You remember running away from home on foot last night to go find one of your best friends. Your dad grounded you for going on another forbidden archaeological dig, which you were always looked down upon for doing because apparently proper ladies aren't supposed to get dirty or look for dead or old things, yet you did it anyways because you were never fond of being changed into somebody you weren't. You decided to sneak onto your laptop for a few minutes to talk to your good friend Sollux after figuring out the wifi password. You always enjoyed his company and you would sneak out to visit him a lot to get away from your troublesome family. But while you were messaging each other on Pesterchum tonight, you remember him mentioning some blood-curdling screams he heard from some neighbors in his apartment building and then a bunch of crashing noises that freaked him out and you got worried. You couldn't help but to try and go find him, even though he protested against it. He told you that leaving your house wasn't a good idea, and now you could see why. Sometimes you even wish you stayed at home like he advised, but you're not sure what your situation would be now if you did. Either way, it doesn't matter because you can't change the past; what's done is done and there's nothing you can do about it.

     To be honest, even though Sollux warned you about the dangers of leaving home, doing it anyways seemed like a good idea to you considering how troublesome your family actually is. You and your sister Damara, older by 6 years, were close. You remember when she used to be a nice girl who enjoyed cosplaying and watching anime, but then her boyfriend cheated on her one day and some other girl persistently bullied her which caused her to change into this mean person who always seemed to be in a bad mood. She would yell at you a lot of the time, even if you did nothing wrong, and she took advantage of the language barrier that then separated you since she learned some Japanese from a class she eventually dropped before actually becoming fluent in the language. You usually didn't care much about the terrible things she would say to you in English, but there were some bad days. Too bad your family couldn't afford college for her so she never moved out. Unfortunately, adding to the malevolence of your sister, your (adoptive) father, who for some odd reason goes by the name of Diamonds Droog, was always pretty strict on you. It was probably because you're his only "sane" daughter left. He always tried to make you be one of those perfect daughters who got good grades and did what they were told. He didn't like it when you talked back to him, whenever you did any activities that involved you getting messy or dirty, or anything that was considered not lady-like. He even forbade you from going on most dates, which is why you've only ever had one boyfriend despite being 18 years old now. Too bad that didn't work out. But you didn't like to conform to his strict standards so you often rebelled against your father's ridiculous rules (you still do your school work and your house chores though) and he wonders why you always snuck out so much. He's probably wondering right now where you are since you clearly ran away yet again, but considering the situation the world is currently in, he's probably more worried about you than he is angry.

     Honestly, you're kind of worried about yourself too now that you think about it. You're sitting in the back seat of Vriska Serket's car, and you don't even like each other that much since you always argued and got into fights. As soon as you left your house, you took the route you usually took to Sollux's apartment building on foot and everything seemed fine in the neighborhood but once you neared the city, there were people panicking on the streets and some buildings were set ablaze. Some random lady who had blood all over her face and neck was running toward you when she was suddenly run over by a car, and that's when Vriska rolled down the driver's window and told you to get in. Weird, it was like you were in some kind of an action-packed story or something.

     You stare out the window to your right at the burning buildings and panicking people you pass. You've been in the car for almost 3 hours, as Vriska made a few stops to go into some stores to gather food and other necessities. She made you go with her a few times whenever she knew there would be more people to fight off and although you are good at defending yourself considering how strong you are from running and lifting things on your archaeological adventures, you barely have any idea on how to use a gun and you're terrible at aiming with one so you managed to save some bullets and let your fists do the work for you. If Vriska had given you the chance, you would have resorted to talking and peacefully coming up with a resolution but you didn't exactly have many opportunities since 99% of the people you fought were dead.

"How many more stops do we have to make? I think we have enough supplies." You ask as you look down at your gray, blood-stained skirt.

"Just a few more, stop your whining." She snapped, keeping her eyes on the road. "We need all the supplies we can get and once I say we have enough, we'll head to my house. It's a decently long distance away any from any highly populated areas so we shouldn't have to deal with many of those dead guys there."

You look over to your left to see a large garbage bag filled with containers of food and some other useful stuff sitting on the seat, and a few gallons of water sitting on the floor.

"And how much is enough?"

She takes a second to turn her head and gives you a dirty look. "Would you stop asking me so many questions? I didn't save your life to get an interrogation."

     You sigh as she returns her gaze to the road and you lean your head against the window, looking at the sky which is painted by the sun with orange and pink hues. You always thought that an apocalypse seemed really exciting and fun and cool but this isn't what you had in mind. You like dead things and all, but not when they're trying to eat you. Sollux was right when he said you should have stayed home, but you can't help but to wonder how he's dealing with this whole situation. It's pretty bad out here in the suburbs but surely it would be even worse in the city where the population is higher. Which reminds you he probably still thinks you're headed over to his apartment! He'd been waiting for you for hours and your terrible signal wouldn't allow you to make any calls or anything. You wish your dad would have let you buy a new phone, yours is pretty old.

     You open your unfortunately untrendy flip phone and begin dialing Sollux's number as soon as you see you have a signal. So many 2's. You put the phone up to your ear and hear it ring a few times, but then it goes to voice mail. What a shame, your day had been bad enough and it'd be nice to at least hear his voice and the adorable lisp that comes with it. But you're not going to give up. Your mobile data internet connection thing is on 2G, which is better than no internet at all, so you open up Pesterchum.

\-- apocalypseArisen  [AA]  began pestering twinArmageddons  [TA]  \--  
AA: s0llux?  
AA: are y0u there  
AA: im s0rry i c0uldnt make it t0 y0ur apartment  
AA: i was attacked 0n my way there but vriska saved me and n0w shes taking me t0 her h0use  
AA: im n0t injured th0ugh!  
AA: and i am als0 n0t sure h0w l0ng 0ur stay at her h0use will last but im n0t familiar with this part 0f t0wn  
AA: i d0nt kn0w where y0u are but i h0pe y0ure 0kay and that we can see each 0ther again s00n  
\-- apocalypseArisen  [AA]  ceased pestering twinArmageddons  [TA]  \--

     Well there goes your signal. Hopefully what you sent is enough for when Sollux checks his messages, which left you wondering why he didn't reply since it said he was online. He was probably busy. Oh well. 

     After Vriska moves all the supplies in the back seat into the trunk of the car, you continue to sit inside for what feels like another hour until she decides it's a good time to head back to her house. The sun rests on the horizon leaving just a small, faded glow of orange on the edge of the dark blue sky, decorated with numerous shining stars. You stare up at them and admire them as Vriska begins to ramble about why the apocalypse pisses her off. You choose not to pay attention to her, and she seems to notice but you just don't care. She says something else that you drown out with silent humming and about 10 minutes later she for some reason picks up two more people; Equius and Eridan. You've never really spoken to Eridan but you know he and Vriska aren't exactly friends despite the fact that he chose to sit in the front seat, resting a large rifle on his lap and discussing survival plans with Vriska. Equius, on the other hand, didn't have a weapon. He sits in the back next to you, and even though he rarely even spoke to you so far, his presence still makes you feel awkward considering you used to be in a relationship back near the end of your sophomore year in high school. At first he treated you well and you thought you liked him but he ended up being extremely classist and would sometimes treat you as if you were less because you weren't wealthy like he was. Later on you would get into numerous fights so you eventually decided to end your 3-month long relationship and ever since then he would apologize and act like a gentleman toward you all over again.

     You have no idea why Vriska would ever want to even speak to them, let alone invite them along for the trip to her house, but you assume she explained her reasons and you weren't listening so you decide not to question it. Your whole day was filled with being yelled at by your family and fighting off dead guys and lifting supplies and being worried about your friends and family and you're just too tired to think about it. You lean your head against the window and close your eyes as you drift off into a slumber and your mind is at rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, suprisingly it didn't take so long to finish this chapter! I was working on this one and the previous one at the same time so by the time I finished Chapter 3, I was already halfway done with this one. Sorry this one isn't as long as the previous one. Anyways, in case you haven't noticed, I will make it so that Karkat, Aradia, Tavros, and Sollux live with their stabdads as their guardians; Spades Slick as Karkat's, Diamonds Droog as Aradia's, Hearts Boxcards as Tavros's, and Clubs Deuce as Sollux's. Also, Vriska's mom is Snowman for obvious reasons. You saw the first stabdads reference in the previous chapter when Aradia stated that her dad wanted her to learn to play the saxophone, which references his canonical ability to play the saxophone. I probably won't be mentioning the stabdads often, so don't expect them to be main characters! Same with Snowman.


	5. The Purrfect Hideout!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Four days into the apocalypse, Nepeta and her friends Tavros and Feferi had been staying at her house do the unsafe state of their own areas. They decide to go out and Nepeta discusses ships with two friends when she, Feferi, and Tavros run into something suspicious.

     You never thought an apocalypse would be so fun! Well, you haven't really killed any of the undead yet but having a few of your friends hide with you in your house for a few days has been very pleasant. They began to worry about the state of the world every once in a while, however you've used your jubilant enthusiasm to keep them calm and happy. The three of you are not only happy, but you are safe as well considering you live in a secluded area away from general population.

     Your name is Nepeta Leijon and you have been staying over at your house near the woods with Tavros Nitram and Feferi Peixes for the past four days. It's the purrfect hideout!

 

* * *

 

     You have been playing board games with two of your good friends for these past few days when you had nothing else to do; you've already played _Monopoly_ , _Sorry!_ , _Life_ , _Candyland_ , and you've played some competitive computer games like _Family Feud_ and _Wheel Of Fortune_ as well. Most of those you played at least twice. You've already gone hunting for some food today and you brought home enough so there's no need to go again for the next few days. You are of course aware of the impending apocalypse, which is why you and your friends are careful during their stay. Their areas are unsafe so they are staying in your house, in which the area is completely clear of the undead in a 3-mile radius. 

     Your mother is at work right now and your sister Meulin is away at college so you're delighted to know that you and your friends have the house to yourselves! Not that your family's presence would be a problem. You were a very happy family, and some would say too happy. Your mother has always been very kind, and she is very religious too but you don't find much faith in what she believes in so she doesn't try to force it down your throat. You're more of an online roleplayer and a shipping kind of girl; you enjoy roleplaying various scenarios with your usual partner Terezi, and you don't have enough words to express your love of shipping. You would sometimes use the blood of the animals you hunt as paint if you run out of the actual paint you usually use; your friends find it creepy but you honestly don't care much about what other people think of you because you love who you are and that's what matters. Meulin also enjoys shipping, but she usually goes a bit overboard with it and constructs some ships that don't even make any sense. You haven't heard from her very recently since she left to go to college about 3 years ago but she does send you letters every now and then. Many of your friends don't know about it but when you say you ship people, those people include your friends. You have a gigantic shipping chart drawn all over a section of your white wall and you usually keep it uncovered unless a certain someone comes by. Which is actually rare. Anyway, you like to divide your ships by four categories: Romantic, platonic, hate-love, and therapeutic. Romantic ships are self-explanatory. Your platonic ships usually consist of those pairs who you consider would be the best of friends, maybe even soul mates, but in a friend way. Your hate-love ships consist mostly of pairs of people who you consider secretly appreciate and enjoy the company of each other despite their common feuds. As for therapeutic, those ships consist of unhealthy relationships that could be monitored by a third party to prevent it from going bad. Gosh you wish those three types had names. Too bad most of your friends have no interest in shipping whatsoever. 

     You're currently laying on your living room floor on your stomach, propped up by your elbows as your head rests upon your hands. Tavros is sitting on the opposite side of you with his knees drawn up to his chest, the _Monopoly_ board game separating the both of you. And to your right, Feferi sits in a criss-cross position moving her game piece along a few squares on the board in front of her. 

"Alright Tavros, it's your turn!" She says, rolling the pair of dice toward him. 

Jaded, he picks up the dice and stares down at them. "Do I have to play? I'm kind of, uh, bored of all these games."

"Do you have any other ideas? There's not much to do in here." 

"No. I wish I brought my Pokemon cards."

     You listen intently as they begin to bicker about their boredom. You wish you had something fun to offer that they would enjoy, but sadly they don't share many of your interests. You adjust the collar of your dilapidated coat, its olive green color faded. You notice it's gotten a bit cold, and you guess it's because it's getting late and the AC is still on. Weird, the sun is still up just far enough over the horizon to safely go out.

"Purrhaps we could go out to see a movie?" You suggest.

Both Tavros and Feferi look down at you with concern.

"But I thought that, uh, downtown was unsafe?" Tavros voiced.

"We're not going downtown, silly! There's a movie theater just by suburbs." You inform.

He and Feferi glance at each other and look back at you.

"Alright, seems fun! So long as we don't get attacked." Feferi agrees with you with a smile.

     With that, the three of you put your shoes on and get ready to leave. You apply your black, leather, fingerless gloves with retractable, long claw-like blades followed by your coat. Neither Tavros nor Feferi have weapons on them but good thing you have one! You should always be prepared for when danger strikes; you've had to learn that the hard way when you went hunting with your mom for the first time at a young age.

     The three of you leave your house and walk down the road surrounded by woods. You're having one of those moments where you wish you learned how to drive and got your own car but you never really saw a need for driving and preferred walking instead. You guess Equius's passion for strength and fitness inspired this quality in you. Speaking of Equius, you wonder where he is. You haven't spoken in a while because he hadn't been on Pesterchum recenty and you don't have a very good signal in the woods. You take out your cell phone, which unfortunately has some subtle blood stains, and you open Pesterchum shortly after seeing you have one bar. To your surprise, Equius is online.

\-- arsenicCatnip  [AC]  began pestering centaursTesticle  [CT]  \--  
AC: :33 > *ac saunters in the vicinity and spots ct*  
AC: :33 > *she cr33ps up behind him and prepares to pounce him with an ecstatic gr33ting*  
CT: D --> Nepeta now is not the time for roleplaying  
CT: D --> Where are you  
AC: :33 > its always the time fur roleplaying!!!!  
CT: D --> No it isn't  
AC: :33 > yes it is  
CT: D --> No  
AC: :33 > yes  
CT: D --> No  
AC: :33 > yes  
CT: D --> Stop this f001ishness at once  
CT: D --> I refuse to be subjected to one of your occasional yes no disputes again  
AC: XOO > rawwrrrr  
AC: :33 > youre no fun!  
CT: D --> That is false  
CT: D --> My lack of what you consider to be fun does not equilibrate a lack of any kind of fun at all  
AC: :33 > :PP  
CT: D --> Now where are you  
AC: :33 > im just outside my house with tafurros and fefurry  
CT: D --> Fefurry  
CT: D --> I mean Feferi  
CT: D --> What is she doing at your residence  
AC: :33 > weve only b33n hanging out! i dont know if you noticed but we have become furry close furrends  
CT: D --> Right  
CT: D --> Anyway  
CT: D --> What is your situation  
AC: :33 > what do you mean?  
CT: D --> Have you not met the undead yet  
AC: :33 > no but ive heard of it  
AC: :33 > but dont worry none of the undead has b33n near my house!  
CT: D --> Are you abso100tely positive  
AC: :33 > well not abso100tely  
AC: :33 > but im purretty sure  
CT: D --> Purretty sure isn't enough  
CT: D --> I order you to be cautious of your surroundings and be careful  
AC: :33 > dont worry!!  
AC: :33 > im fine and ive never b33n better  
AC: :33 > where are you anyway?  
CT: D --> I am currently in a vehicle with Vriska, Aradia, and Eridan  
AC: :33 > what are you doing with them?  
CT: D --> We are on our way to Vriska's home  
CT: D --> My own residence was overrun and as embarrassed as I am to admit the actions of such a being she came to my rescue  
CT: D --> A similar situation had occurred to Eridan as well however I am not sure about Aradia  
CT: D --> In fact I'm not sure I wish to inquire  
CT: D --> Just being in her presence makes me  
CT: D --> Sweat  
AC: :33 > ewww  
AC: :33 > dont do that  
CT: D --> If you really think I can help that then you are mistaken  
AC: :33 > didnt you and aradia break up like 2 years ago?  
CT: D --> Yes  
AC: :33 > and youre still not over her?  
CT: That is somewhat correct  
AC: :33 > wow thats furry surpurrising  
CT: D --> I do not plan to speak to her very often  
CT: D --> She has made it clear a long time ago that she no longer appreciates my presence and I believe she still feels the same way  
CT: D --> In fact she has most likely found interest in someone else by now  
AC: :OO > really?  
AC: :33 > i wish i stayed home fur this so i can update my shipping wall!  
AC: :33 > who do you think is her new interest?  
CT: D --> Well I can assure you you already have this "ship" on your wall  
CT: D --> But I have caught her speaking to her obno%ious hacker friend numerous times  
CT: D --> In fact I think she was just trying to contact him through Pesterchum on her cellular phone just now  
AC: :33 > you mean sollux?  
CT: D --> Yes that is him  
CT: D --> To think that I am being replaced with such a disrespectful person makes me feel ill  
AC: :33 > well i dont talk to him or aradia furry often so i cant say fur sure if she actually likes him that way (i can only hope so!)  
AC: :33 > but even if they are nothing more than furrends then they can still talk  
AC: :33 > actually whether they are furrends or romantic partners it shouldnt matter  
AC: :33 > she is not your property and never has b33n and she is allowed to purrsue whatever relationship she wants  
CT: D --> That is true  
CT: D --> I will attempt to get over her and allow her to pursue whatever relationship she feels most comfortable in  
CT: D --> I can only hope my replacement satisfies her more than I ever did  
AC: :33 > thats the spurrit!  
AC: :33 > maybe you will find the right person sooner or later  
CT: D --> Perhaps I will  
CT: D --> Thank you for this  
CT: D --> And please do not inform Aradia of what I said about her  
AC: :33 > no purrmises ;33  
CT: D --> I should go now  
AC: :33 > i hope to s33 you soon!  
CT: D --> Likewise  
\-- centaursTesticle [CT] ceased pestering arsenicCatnip [AC] \--

Well now you're curious. What a perfect timing! Aradia is online too.

\-- arsenicCatnip  [AC]  began pestering apocalypseArisen  [AA]  \--  
AC: :33 > *ac watches aa from a safe distance and prepares to engage in an enthusiastic gr33ting*  
AC: :33 > *she wonders if aa would recognize her despite the rare occurrence of interaction between the two*  
AA: hell0 nepeta  
AC: XOO > darn it!!  
AA: what  
AC: :33 > nothing!  
AA: 0h 0kay  
AA: is there s0mething y0u wanted t0 talk ab0ut  
AC: :33 > yes! i wanted to know if you have come across the undead yet  
AA: well actually i have n0t t00 l0ng ag0  
AC: :OO > really? what happened??  
AA: i left h0me t0 g0 visit s0llux but i was attacked and vriska came t0 my rescue  
AA: n0w i am sitting in her car and 0n 0ur way t0 her h0use with equius and eridan  
AA: which t0 be c0mpletely h0nest s0rt 0f makes me feel a bit awkward  
AC: :33 > why is that?  
AA: well i d0nt usually c0me in c0ntact with eridan and im n0t particularly f0nd of vriska  
AA: assuming y0u are aware 0f my past relati0nship with equius the reas0n f0r my awkwardness ar0und him sh0uld be 0bvi0us  
AC: :33 > well i cant say i blame you  
AC: :33 > he makes a lot of people f33l awkward  
AC: :33 > how are you and equius doing?  
AA: what d0 y0u mean  
AC: :33 > have you spoken to each other often since the break up?  
AC: :33 > what is the current state of your relationship?  
AA: y0u act like 0ur separati0n was recent  
AA: anyway i d0nt exactly c0nsider us friends  
AA: i generally try t0 av0id c0ntact with him but if he speaks t0 me i try t0 be kind and refrain fr0m c0mpletey ign0ring him  
AC: :33 > :((  
AC: well now that you arent together is there anyone else you are interested in  
AA: interested?  
AC: :33 > interested! do you have a crush on anyone?  
AA: 0h um  
AA: im n0t sure!  
AA: ive never really c0nsidered p0tential r0mantic interests that 0ften  
AA: but n0w that i think ab0ut it  
AC: :33 > :??  
AA: actually  
AA: i d0nt think i want t0 discuss it  
AC: :33 > why not??  
AA: i just feel m0re c0mf0rtable keeping it t0 myself if y0u d0nt mind  
AC: :33 > sorry  
AC: :33 > i wont furrce you to tell me  
AA: is that all y0u wanted t0 discuss  
AC: :33 > yep!! i should get going now  
AA: i sh0uld as well  
\-- arsenicCatnip  [AC]  ceased pestering apocalypseArisen  [AA]  \--

"Nepeta, I think I hear something!" Tavros says as he and Feferi stop walking and look around cautiously.

     You look up at them, and quickly sending your last message to Aradia in a hurry, you put your phone away and arm yourself with your awesome metal claws. You feel like Wolverine except of course you like to consider your theme more feline than canine. Is he canine? You're not sure, all you know about him is that he has claws. You begin to hear rustling in nearby bushes and prepare for an attack.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that was a shitty ending. Anyway, sorry for taking so long to write this chapter! I didn't have much motivation so I hope this extra length makes up for it. I'm aware that I used the wrong symbol after the :33 in the prefix in Nepeta's typing quirk, the correct one messes up the pesterlog formatting so I have to use the one I'm currently using. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! The next one will probably be about Gamzee and Terezi but it'll take some time to come up with a plot.


	6. Stop Clowning Around

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Terezi and Gamzee are trapped inside a house, surrounded by hungry corpses trying to break in. With another (actually dead) corpse rotting inside that house, the foul stench disabling Terezi from smelling much else in the house, it's kind of hard to find their stay any pleasant. But when the time comes to finally try to escape, that situation wasn't what they had in mind.

     This apocalypse could not get any worse. Not only are you stuck inside somebody's smelly house, but you're stuck with your alcoholic drug-addict "friend" who is even more annoying than most of your friends understand. You wish you hadn't run into him but it's not like you can go back and change that now. 

     Your name is Terezi Pyrope and you're stuck in a house with Gamzee Makara and a rotting corpse, surrounded by other rotting corpses except those ones are hungry for flesh. 

 

* * *

 

     Dear God you can barely stand the awful stench following you everywhere you go in the house. When you first stumbled inside with Gamzee, the first thing you saw (or smelled, in your case) was a dead man sitting on a chair. Because you are blind and the smell of death was clogging your nostrils, you had Gamzee describe the sight for you and he said that the dead guy on the chair had a shotgun in his hand and the blood spatter on the wall behind him was a result of blowing his own head off. That knowledge probably would have made you sick to your stomach but you've seen (smelled) and listened to numerous criminal investigation TV shows with graphic depictions of violence so you're really sort of used to most of it. 

     You suppose Gamzee has been a little helpful to you since you ran into him today, considering he helped you avoid tripping over stuff and encountering the undead; however that doesn't change the fact that you hate his guts. Unfortunately for you, you used to have some weird romantic relationship with him. You're not even sure if it actually was a thing, it was really complicated. You were sort of together during your senior year in high school and you sort of liked him but at the same time you hated him. This would be a lot easier to explain if there was a name for this type of relationship. Hmmm, you wonder. 

     Anyway, when you and he were in this weird catastrophic relationship, you would often flirt with each other but with insults and have some play fights just to mess with each other. You used to even actually fight a lot, but it took you a while to realize when the relationship turned abusive. It's completely normal for people to deny being the victim of abuse at first though, so you don't blame yourself. At first you just figured your fights were those normal ones couples usually have but now that you think about it, you really did let him walk all over you. He would always tease you even while you weren't in the mood for any "hate-flirting", he would say rude things and make you feel like you weren't good enough. He would make you feel worthless yet always acted like nothing was wrong, that he was still a good guy; you didn't realize how emotionally abusive he was actually being until he eventually starting beating you one day. That day ended with a hospital visit and you remember Karkat being too enraged for words to describe. You remember him aggressively ending his friendship with Gamzee and you remember ending your relationship with him for good. Karkat was really supportive of you and you really appreciated that. 

     So how did you end up with the crazy clown standing right next to you? You went grocery shopping today to gather some snacks for the get-together at Feferi's house you were planning on attending. As soon as you walked into the soda isle, you discovered Gamzee already there browsing Faygo (of course). you wanted to leave but he saw you and began talking to you like you two were the best of friends. As soon as a few minutes had passed, a bunch of violent dead people burst right into the store and started attacking everyone. That's when Gamzee grabbed your arm and ran, dragging you with him, and you ended up in the house you are currently standing in. 

     You really wish you could get the hell out of that house but there are a bunch of dead people outside screeching and clawing at the walls, the windows, the doors, everywhere. You lost your cane (which has blades inside of it) when you stabbed one of them through the window and it got stuck in its head so basically you no longer have any weapons. Gamzee is wandering around the house doing God knows what, and all you can do is stand where you are and cup your hands over your face and your mouth so you can't smell or taste the horrible scent of decomposing corpses. You have to admit it's better than dealing with Gamzee though. You hate his guts.

     You end your train of thought when you suddenly begin to hear sharp cracks. It sounds like... glass. Breaking. Well this isn't good. Holding your arms out in front of you, you walk in a hurry to some direction you hope the kitchen is in. You really wish the stench of the rotting dead guy in the room wasn't temporarily disabling your sense of smell, because you don't have your cane with you and all you have to rely on is your arms. You walk for what seems to be about 10 seconds before you bump your knee and then your pelvis on something made of wood on the bottom and something hard and more solid on the top, but your hands don't touch anything until you put them down to feel marble. You figure this is a kitchen counter so you feel around it with your hands. You come across lots of useless stuff that you don't care about, until your hand is poked by something sharp.

"Ow!" You gasp.

     You think you cut your hand but that's not important. You shake your hand a little and then put it back to grab what you touched. You felt down a blade, careful not to cut yourself (again?), until your hand reached a blunt handle and you grabbed it. Yeah this is definitely a knife.

Alright so now you have a weapon. Now what?

"Gamzee where the fuck are you? We're in trouble!" You shout, hoping he can hear you through the noises of screaming dead people.

     As the sound of breaking glass becomes more frequent, he bursts out of some room to your left and you hear a light clank as something thin and metal taps the tile floor. You hope that's a weapon he's holding and that it's for whatever is hostile because you can't really smell anything but rotting corpses so it's hard to smell anything else that's around you. He probably decided to stop clowning around and this would be a good situation for stopping that. 

"Looks like those motherfuckers are all up and breaking in." He says.

"Yeah that's why I said we're in trouble." You say, rolling your eyes. Well you hope you are. You can't tell because you can't see but you know you're at least moving them.

You hear more fists banging against the walls and windows and more glass breaking until there's suddenly yelling outside and a loud buzzing noise, the banging decreasing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is kinda short, I didn't have many ideas for a plot and I'm not planning on making Gamzee or Terezi main characters so they probably won't be in the story much.


	7. Knives Over Frying Pans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karkat and Kanaya continue their journey to find the way out of the woods. Once they do so, they encounter a crowd of the undead and fight to get what they seemed to be so desperate for, which turns out to be a pair of acquaintances. The first reunion was a good experience; the second one? Not so much.

* Karkat's POV * 

* * *

      You and Kanaya have been walking for what feels like hours, but really it was around 10 minutes. You are still panting from being out of breath, and you can hear Kanaya dragging her chainsaw along the ground. You look up at the sky and see that the smoke you saw earlier is rising into the sky, wondering what could be causing it. Is it just a small fire in the woods? Is it a camp? Is someone grilling something? Did someone blow something up? You suppose it's more likely that someone blew something up with some type of an explosive considering there are probably riots all over the city by now. You've seen it in countless movies about these dead guys but fighting them off isn't as easy as many of them usually make it seem.

     Clearly you both are still exhausted, and your hope for surviving in these damn woods is beginning to fade with each second you fail to find that tower you are hoping to make it to. You really hope you weren't hallucinating it, but you're pretty sure you weren't since Kanaya saw it too. It has to be there. Just the thought of never finding it invades your mind and completely distracts you to the point where you accidentally bump into a tree. Ow. Thankfully Kanaya didn't notice because you don't feel like being embarrassed right now. You continue to focus on the way out of these woods. As long as you keep moving in the same direction you'll find it in no time. No problem, right? 

Wrong. 

     As you hear rustling in a few nearby bushes, you stop walking to turn around to face the direction from which you hear the noise coming. Kanaya turns as well and picks up her chainsaw, getting ready to turn it on. The rustling stops for about a second and then suddenly a loud figure starts running toward you until it turns into a bloody mess. Literally. Your heart begins to race and your breathing gets faster and heavier. Trying your best not to panic, you look down at the lifeless body that lays on the ground before you, resting your hand on the knife in your pocket. The body was bisected at the waist by Kanaya's chainsaw, its intestines and other internal organs you don't want to look at are scattered around the body.

     You feel something coming up and put your hand over your mouth as you turn around and take a few steps before leaning forward and beginning to throw up. Well there go those few berries you ate for dinner last night. Kanaya walks up behind you and pats your back, and as you finish emptying the contents of your stomach, you begin to cough and spit some saliva onto the ground below you. You absolutely hate the taste of vomit and you want to get rid of it. Right now there is nothing you want more than brushing your teeth. Not only are you exhausted, hungry, thirsty, sweaty, and smelly, but now you have to deal with a disgusting aftertaste in your mouth and you don't have anything to use to wash it out.

"Are you feeling alright?" Kanaya asks in a soft yet slightly raspy voice. 

"Yeah." You reply, breathing heavily as you wipe your mouth with the back of your hand. "Just fucking great."

"We should get going. The undead usually travel in groups so there could be more nearby."

     You continue to stand in the position you were in just in case you had more stuff in your stomach that needed to go up North, but stand up straight once you're sure you're finished vomiting. You try to avoid looking at the dead body below you as you walk around it to follow Kanaya who is continuing on your path to the exit.

"You should begin using that knife of yours," Kanaya suggests. "I can't kill everything myself. Self-defense is crucial in situations like this."

You look down at your knife, which is still in your hand. "I know."

     You honestly don't know if you can actually handle killing people. Or, in this case, what used to be people. But you really do hope you don't actually have to kill any living human beings because as much as you hate the world and almost everyone around you, you don't hate everything enough to actually want to end lives. Thinking back to how that dead guy tried to kill you just now and how gruesome the scene was when Kanaya chainsawed it in half, you know you have to learn to stop being afraid of killing those things but you have your doubts that you would even be able to put a real fight.

      You clenched your fists and tightened your grasp on the knife. Like Kanaya said, there are probably more dead guys nearby and you already feel guilty enough for having her do all of the dirty work while you run like a wimp. After a short amount of time walking through the woods, you hear distant inhuman screams that you recognize to be from the undead. But that's not what's freaking you out; it's the fact that not only do the screams belong to one person(?) but you can hear a lot of them at the same time. 

     You stop in your tracks as Kanaya does the same, remaining still as she listens to the noises. You nervously raise your knife by a few inches and look around cautiously, expecting to be attacked again. Kanaya turns her head to look at you. 

"We will have to get through that herd." She declared.

Your eyes widen. "What? Are you saying we have to kill them?"

"Yes." She replied. "They seem to desperate for something, and whatever is it we may need it."

"I don't know if I can fight them off!" You say in a panic, louder than you had hoped.

Kanaya shushes you. "Karkat I know you can do it but not with that attitude." 

You sigh. "Fine. Let's just get this over with." 

     She begins silently walking in the direction from which the screams are coming, tightening her grip on the handlebar of her blood-stained chainsaw. You follow her with your knife in your hand, and you raise it over your shoulder to get ready to stab anything that attacks you. You really hope this doesn't end badly. 

     After a few short minutes of traveling, you and Kanaya stop walking and hide behind a few trees once you come across the back of a house surrounded by dead people screaming and clawing at the walls and doors; some of them are even breaking the windows. What distracts you from this encounter is the fact that there are other houses in front of this one and there is also a road, so you know this means you finally made it out of the woods alive. It's about time. Now where is that tower and puff of smoke you saw earlier? You look up at the sky in an attempt to find it but Kanaya snaps her fingers to get your attention. 

     You look over at her to see that she is pointing at you and then at the crowd of the undead. You assume she's asking you to make the first hit, which almost sends you back into a panic. 

"Are you crazy?!" You whispered to her. 

"I apologize for not having a silent weapon like you do," She whispered back. "Now go!" 

"Fine!" You respond. 

     Extremely nervous, you peek at the crowd and then look at Kanaya who gives you a nod. You return your gaze to the crowd once again, tightening your grip on your knife even more to the point where your hand begins to hurt, and you cautiously walk toward the crowd as silently as possible. The dry leaves you step on crack and crumble under your feet so unfortunately silence isn't a thing you're doing a great job with at the moment. The undead don't seem to notice though, so you think you're good. 

Well, not anymore. 

     You accidentally step on a twig which breaks loudly, catching the attention of some decomposing old lady and some middle-aged man who is dressed in an expensive-looking suit. They turn to look at you and the man starts to run toward you, the old lady only walking quickly. You wish you could laugh at the looks on each of their faces but instead you let out a panicked scream as you raise your knife and stab the dead man in the head, which makes the most disturbing noise you've ever heard up close in person as blood oozes from the around the knife and drips down his face. Shit, now the entire crowd is after you.

     You quickly remove the knife from the man's head and back away, stabbing another dead person in their head, too shocked at what you're doing and seeing to even react. You want to yell out for Kanaya to help you, but as soon as you hear the beautiful roar of her chainsaw, your hopes go up just a bit. You never thought you'd be so glad to hear that noise.

     As you remove the knife from the head of the guy you just stabbed, some other guy tackles you to the ground and attempts to lean in to bite, but you try your absolute best to hold him up with whatever strength you have left in your arms. You're not doing so well considering you are malnourished and weak and the body above you is weighing itself down, but a foot with a very fashionable (but unfortunately dirty) shoe on it kicks him right off of you so that he falls to the ground next to you. You take this to your advantage as you sit up and lean over him with your knife, stabbing him directly in the center of his forehead. You turn your head and look up to see Kanaya offering her hand, so you take it and she helps you stand back up. 

     As you look around to see a multitude of bodies and severed parts with numerous pools of blood and some internal organs on the grass, you prepare for more attacks while Kanaya does the same. You aren't even halfway through the crowd yet, which for the most part is still focused on the house, but you still have some hope that you'll get through it. 

     Many repugnant fight scenes later, you and Kanaya are surrounded by lifeless bodies and you are both enervated as you stand there and look around. If any other corpse wants to come out and fight then they better do it because you are Karkat Vantas and you just learned how to kill with a knife. It's a lot easier to fight with than a frying pan and you feel like you can take any fight now. You swear you better be getting those great muscles soon because you've been walking and stabbing for so long that you are too worn out to stand and you fall backward onto the grass and stare up at the sky. You're too tired to care that you're covered in blood, you just want to relax for once. 

Except something else catches your attention. 

"Kanaya? Karkat?" You hear a female voice say shortly after the back door of the house opens. 

     Weird, this voice sounds familiar. You sit up to look and you see the one girl you've really missed: the blind one with the red hair and glasses who loved to study law. 

"Terezi?" You say, standing up. "Holy fuck, you're alive!" 

     She runs over to you and hugs you tightly, almost knocking you over, and you can't help but to return the gesture. You can't even begin to explain how glad you are to not only get the full out the woods you've been lost in for days but also to have met up with Terezi again since the whole world turned to shit. 

     As you hold onto her, you open your eyes and look over her shoulder to see Gamzee standing just next to the door. What the shit was he doing there? Was he with Terezi? Well now you're not so glad. In fact, you are currently pissed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sweet, I'm on a roll here! I really enjoyed writing this chapter, especially the fight scenes. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!


	8. Fire Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sollux attempts to leave his apartment through the front door inside the building, but when he is attacked and surrounded, he makes a drastic decision to climb out the window and get out through the fire escape. When he makes it down, he converses with a friend who he thought was in danger and steals a car to leave town.

* Sollux's POV * 

* * *

     You make your way through the dark hallway shortly after leaving your apartment. You have your flashlight in your hand to illuminate your path and your trusty kitchen knife in your other hand. Although you thankfully (and surprisingly) haven't encountered the undead yet, you really wish your asshole of a brother Mituna hadn't thrown away your badass throwing stars when you were 13; you would be able to kill all these shitheads in no time but no, apparently you were too old to have such weapons. 

     As you carefully inspect your surroundings for things you might need, the lights occasionally flicker on and off. It would be pretty awesome if they would stop doing that since it makes everything look 10 times scarier, but considering the fact that there are probably some survivors in your building without flashlights, you figure it'd be a good thing that the lights are doing what they're doing. Besides, you've played a shit ton of horror video games so you should be alright with this. Too bad you never actually prepared for the apocalypse you never even expected to get involved in. How the fuck did this happen anyway?

     You lose your train of thought when you pass by a closed apartment door on your left and hear distant rustling and metal clanking on hard floor. You tighten your grip on your knife, hoping that whatever is making that noise doesn't find you, keeping your eyes on the door. You continue to walk, and then you suddenly slip on some sheets of paper and fall to the floor, causing a loud thud. Okay now you seriously don't want that to be heard.

     Apparently your luck is shit because you see a dark figure standing at the end of the hallway, and you freeze. Your heart stops beating and you notice your knife and your flashlight on the floor of either side of you as you are sitting up, staring at the figure as it seems to stare back at you. You don't even know which way it's facing because the lights are off, and you don't think you want to find out. Right now you just want to sit where you are until it goes away because you have no idea what to do right now; really, all you're actually doing at this moment is sitting on the floor while silently having a staring contest with some stranger on the other end of a hallway.

     Soon enough, the light flickers again and you try not to panic when you see that the person you've been staring at is drenched in blood and covered in cuts and scratches as well as deep bite marks and huge tears and gashes in the skin, complimented by bruises. You're pretty sure it's one of the undead and you confirm it when it starts running right toward you, making inhumane growling noises. 

"Holy shit." You mutter under your breath. 

     Okay now it's time to panic. You quickly stand up, grabbing your knife, and without thinking you shove the blade straight in into his forehead with all the strength you have in your arm, silencing him instantly. Oh dear God you have blood on the side of your hand. You yank the knife out, and he drops to the floor. You shift your gaze to the end of the hallway once more, and you see about four more heading right toward you. 

     You quickly grab your flashlight off the ground and turn around to run back to your apartment. There is no way in hell you can deal with them, especially since they're pretty much everywhere in your apartment building. As you make your way through the halls, praying to God that you don't slip or trip on anything, you dodge a multitude of stray objects leaning against the wall or lying on the slightly blood-stained floor to ensure that you don't fall over and get killed. 

     You make it to your apartment safely, and as the pursuers make their way right around the corner, you swing open your apartment door and barge inside, quickly closing it behind you and locking it up so that you're alone in your apartment once more. You breathe a sigh of relief despite the banging on the front door and the screaming from the other side, and you're quite thankful that you didn't fuck up badly enough to get yourself killed on the first day of actually doing something to survive. That would have been pretty embarrassing. As stupid as it sounds, you think you'd much rather fall and hit your head on something and then die instantly from the head trauma than to be ripped apart by a bunch of dead cannibalistic lunatics. You wouldn't blame yourself though, severe head trauma is a quicker way to go, even if you just pass out because you can confirm that it happens really quickly due to a time when you got in a fight with Eridan a few years ago and he pushed you into a wall hard enough to blind you temporarily. You would have done something to him in return like beating the shit out of him but Feferi proceeded to do all she could to prevent you and him going near each other again. What a bummer, you would have loved to give him a good black eye or two, maybe a few broken bones. God you hate that guy. 

     You set your backpack down on the sofa near the window and pull your phone out of your pocket, occasionally glancing at the door to make sure it wasn't being broken down or somehow unlocked and opened, and you look up at the status bar at the top of the screen. Of course there's no signal. You were kind of hoping to contact someone you know who may be able to offer some advice on how to fight or protect yourself. As much as you hate him, that ideal contact probably would have been Equius but you're not sure you even want to see him, even in a situation like this. You can't call 911 because they would be of no use. What are the paramedics going to do, perform CPR on everyone in the building? The cops would probably end up dying and you're pretty sure the military has their hands full with what's happening in the city. You just hope they don't bomb the town while you're still here, you've seen that happen a lot in video games and TV shows. 

     You put your phone away and pace back an forth in the living room of your apartment, trying to think of ideas on how to get the hell out the building safely. You turn to look at the large window, and shake your head. You can't climb out of that because there is no fire escape and the nearest one is on the floor below yours and around ten yards to the left away from the window. You'll hold that decision for if you have no other choices. 

     The banging on the door becomes louder as you hear more screaming; you guess there are more of them after you. Alright you seriously have to get the fuck out of here. You hurry to your bedroom, looking for a few things you might want to take with you. It might seem sappy and you do get annoyed at your family and friends quite a bit, but you don't feel like your ready to leave behind all the memories in your apartment. You see a picture frame holding a photograph of you, your father, and your older brother Mituna from about a year ago. It's a happy family photo and you decide to stuff it inside your backpack along with another short stack of some other photos that your dad gave to you shortly after he got them developed almost a week ago as well as your flashlight.

     You head back to the living room and make your way to the window. You open it up and stick your head out to look around for the fire escape. When you see it, you decide it is indeed a long path but you'd rather take your chances of falling off the building than being ripped apart by the cannibals currently breaking the front door off its hinges. You don't think that door is going to last long. You squeeze your fat backpack outside the window beside you and you let it hang as you consider the chances of it making it to the fire escape platform if you were to throw it because you're pretty sure that balancing on the ledge will be impossible if you wore on your back instead.

You hear a crack from the door. You decide that you have to leave right now so you take your chances and throw the backpack toward the fire escape platform. Your heart stops beating when it misses, but it continues when it lands on the stair case below the platform. Good, now you just hope nobody steals it.

     You proceed to lift your right leg and stick it through the window, planting your foot on the ledge. You do the same with your other, tightly gripping the window frame with your right hand as you climb outside. You feel your heart pumping right out of your chest as you resist the urge to look down at the seemingly tiny alley below, and you carefully stand straight up, maintaining your grip on the window frame. You begin to feel slight pains in your head from the nervousness you feel, but you brush it off and carefully step to your right in the direction of the fire escape.

     Alright, time to let go of the window frame. You do just that and gently put your hands on the wall beside you, and you keep your eyes on the fire escape as you continue moving slowly along the ledge. Resisting the urge to look down is getting more difficult by the minute, but you know that it's important to keep calm if you want to be able to maintain your balance so you manage to convince yourself to keep your eyes on the fire escape. As you move, you here lots of chaos in the street beside the adjacent side of the building. There are sirens, vehicles honking, living people screaming, dead people screaming, gunshots, helicopters in the sky, and you smell smoke so you think there are some fires down there too. Wow there sure is a lot of stuff going on here downtown. You wonder what it's like further out.

     You safely make it to the fire escape and climb over the railing to get onto the platform, and you head down the stairs. Thank God you didn't fall and die. As you make your way down, you come across your backpack and you pick it up and sling it over your shoulder. You reach the ground and look around the shady alley as you stand next to a smelly dumpster. It may be stinky but it gives you a good hiding spot so nobody on the streets see you. 

     You put your knife blade-first in your pocket and you take your phone out of your other pocket to check for a signal. You have three bars, which is good enough, but your internet connection isn't doing so well and your phone's battery life is on 66%. You figure you might as well make the best of what you have. You open up Pesterchum, which displays an open chat window and a few missed messages from Aradia from about an hour ago. 

\-- apocalypseArisen  [AA]  began pestering twinArmageddons  [TA]  \--  
AA: s0llux?  
AA: are y0u there  
AA: im s0rry i c0uldnt make it t0 y0ur apartment  
AA: i was attacked 0n my way there but vriska saved me and n0w shes taking me t0 her h0use  
AA: im n0t injured th0ugh!  
AA: and i am als0 n0t sure h0w l0ng 0ur stay at her h0use will last but im n0t familiar with this part 0f t0wn  
AA: i d0nt kn0w where y0u are but i h0pe y0ure 0kay and that we can see each 0ther again s00n  
\-- apocalypseArisen  [AA]  ceased pestering twinArmageddons  [TA]  \--

As you read the messages, you breathe a sigh of relief and anxiously check to see if she is online, and you have good news.

\-- twinArmageddons  [TA]  began pestering apocalypseArisen  [AA]  \--  
TA: aradiia?  
TA: are you there?  
TA: oh god plea2e tell me you're okay.  
AA: hi s0llux!  
TA: holy 2hiit you're aliive!  
AA: 0f course i am alive  
AA: 0therwise y0u w0uld n0t be getting these messages  
TA: wow thank2 for that iinformatiion.  
TA: anyway where are you?  
AA: im currently staying at vriskas h0me  
TA: wow ii feel bad for you, haviing two 2pend tiime wiith the 2erket famiily now.  
AA: actually her family is n0t here  
AA: its just me and vriska as well as equius and eridan  
TA: waiit what? 2eriiou2ly?  
AA: yes  
TA: what the fuck are they doiing there?  
AA: i wish i knew  
AA: vriska picked them up bef0re we arrived at her h0me and i wasnt paying attenti0n t0 her babbling  
TA: well ii gue22 ii wouldn't blame you for that.  
TA: how are you doiing over there?  
TA: you're not hurt or anythiing are you?  
AA: n0 im 0kay  
AA: vriska and i dr0ve ar0und s0me parts 0f t0wn t0 gather s0me supplies and we f0ught 0ff a l0t 0f the undead  
AA: right n0w i am sitting in her living r00m and vriska is pr0bably in her 0wn r00m  
AA: i am n0t sure where equius and eridan are  
AA: i have t0 admit this residence l00ks very nice  
TA: ii wouldn't know, iit'2 been a whiile 2iince ii saw her house.  
AA: y0uve been here bef0re?  
TA: yeah. unfortunately we were paiired up a2 partner2 for a 2ciience faiir project iin our 2eniior year and 2he made me go vii2iit her two 2tudy and do 2ome re2earch and experiimental 2hiit.  
AA: w0w  
TA: iin fact ii thiink ii miight 2tiill have her addre22 2omewhere iin my text me22age2 2o ii miight be able two go over there a22umiing ii get a car.  
AA: it w0uld be pretty great t0 have y0u here  
AA: im n0t sure i feel very c0mf0rtable in the presence 0f every0ne in this h0use  
AA: especially equius c0nsidering 0ur past relati0nship  
TA: yeah he ii2 pretty much a douchebag.  
AA: why d0 y0u hate him s0 much?  
AA: i never quite underst00d y0ur relati0nship  
TA: ii ju2t don't liike the way he'2 treated you and ii've alway2 found hiim really creepy.  
TA: ju2t knowiing that he'2 riight there wiith you really pii22e2 me off.  
AA: y0u seem very c0ncerned f0r me  
TA: of cour2e ii'm concerned! not only diid ii ju2t fiind out that the a22hole who treated you liike 2hiit ii2 wiith you riight now but the entiire tiime ii 2at iin my apartment 2tranded ii thought you were DEAD!  
AA: im s0rry  
AA: i sh0uld have stayed h0me like y0u t0ld me t0  
TA: iit'2 not your fault your dad deciided not two tell you what wa2 goiing on.  
TA: and you thought ii wa2 iin danger 2o you went after me, ii would have done the 2ame for you.  
TA: ii'm ju2t glad you're alriight.  
AA: d0 y0u have vriskas address  
TA: yeah ii ju2t checked. 2houldn't you know what iit ii2?  
AA: pr0bably n0t  
AA: alth0ugh we have played games a l0t as kids i havent v0luntarily been in c0ntact with her that 0ften s0 i guess i just f0rg0t her address 0vertime  
AA: and i d0zed 0ff during the car ride here s0 i wasnt paying attenti0n t0 the directi0ns  
AA: anyway are y0u still in y0ur apartment  
TA: not anymore, thank god.  
TA: ii triied two go out the front door at fiir2t but ii wa2 attacked and 2oon enough my apartment wa2 iin the proce22 of beiing broken iinto 2o ii cliimbed out a wiindow in2tead.  
TA: ii had two balance on the ledge two get two the fiire e2cape 2o ii could get down and ii wa2 fuckiing terriifiied but ii made iit.  
AA: w0w that seems like quite an adventure  
TA: ii gue22 you could 2ay that.  
AA: s0 when d0 y0u think y0u will be here  
TA: ii'm planniing on leaviing now 2o ii 2hould be there t0niight, a22umiing ii won't be held back by 2omethiing.  
AA: but its dark!  
AA: y0u sh0uld pr0bably stay s0mewhere t0 rest and wait until m0rning  
TA: aradiia ii ju2t almo2t diied leaviing my apartment, ii don't thiink ii want two waiit iin 2ome random buiildiing and get attacked agaiin. iit's ab2olutely terriible here near the center of the ciity.  
AA: alright fine  
AA: but please be careful  
TA: ii wiill. ii'll 2ee you later.  
\-- twinArmageddons [TA] ceased pestering apocalypseArisen [AA] \--

     You take a quick look around to make sure you had not been discovered behind the dumpster in the alley by anyone by the street, but you are completely alone so you're sure nobody found you. What a relief. You put your phone back into your pocket and stand up, putting your hand on the handle of your knife which is still in your pocket. You peak around the corner of the dumpster, which smells awful, and you look over at the street. Some people seem to be running to places here and there, but you think you can make it to the car that you see parked right on the other side of the street. The door is open and the front lights are on but nobody is inside so you're pretty sure the keys are still in and you can easily steal it and drive right over to Vriska's house. 

     You hurry over to the car, making sure to dodge the people running by so you don't bump into anybody, and you climb into the front seat of the car and throw your backpack onto the seat next to you. You close the door and look at the rear-view mirror to see a lot of panicking people and police officers with riot gear. The smell of smoke gets stronger and the screaming from the people behind you get louder so you put the car in gear and take off, driving down the road and you're on your way out of the center of the city.


	9. Weapons and Defenses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Staying at Vriska's house, Aradia confronts her about Sollux's visit. Shortly afterward, she has an awkward conversation with Equius before her friend arrives.

* Aradia's POV *

* * *

"Aradia!" You hear Vriska shout from another room behind you. Great, what does she want now?

"What?" You reply loud enough for her to hear.

"Help me put some of this food away before it all goes bad!"

You sigh. "I'm coming."

     You close Pesterchum on your cell phone and put it in your pocket after seeing that you still had the inactive chat window open. Knowing that you got a chance to talk to Sollux again and that he's okay, you couldn't help but to smile a bit and you're getting excited now that he's on his way. Finally something good happens today. You yawn and get up off the comfy, cerulean sofa you slept on for the last thirty minutes and leave the large and wonderfully decorated living room of Vriska's luxurious home. You wonder how her family has so much money? She never told you anything even while you were still friends.

     You walk into the kitchen to see Vriska kneeling on the floor in front of the refrigerator, putting things away from a full, large garbage bag beside her. On the other side of the kitchen sat another garbage bag, which had not been opened yet, leaning against a wall beside a large pantry door.

"While I put this stuff in the fridge, I need you to put the other stuff over there inside the pantry." Vriska instructed.

"Why couldn't you get Equius or Eridan to do it?" You ask.

"Because they're busy boarding up the windows and taking care of our weapons."

"That's not fair! Why do they have the cooler jobs?"

"........Just put the fucking food away."

     You sigh and walk over to the garbage bag by the pantry. You wish you could handle the weapons and defenses because that seems a lot more interesting than just putting food away but at the same time you wonder where Vriska even got all the weapons. You don't remember her ever having so many guns and you think she may be hiding something from you; could she have stolen them? That seems to be something she would do but you're not sure you should be criticizing her for it. It is the apocalypse and times are bad, after all. Maybe she just took them from people who were already dead.

"So why are you in such a good mood all of a sudden?" She asks after ten long minutes of storing and organizing huge amounts of food.

"What?"

"You've seemed bored and worried all day today and I saw you smiling you when you walked in here."

"Oh. Right." You open the garbage bag next to you and begin putting things away to avoid eye contact with Vriska. "That's what I did."

"...Could you tell me why?"

     You wish you weren't so terrible at hiding things or lying, and it's even worse because you're around Vriska. You're very easy to read and Vriska can very easily read someone else. It's like she has some kind of mind powers or something! You freeze and think of something to say. You're definitely happy that you might be seeing Sollux soon but considering that fact that he and Vriska hate each other and he isn't exactly friends with Equius or Eridan either, you're not sure either of them will be happy to hear of his arrival. Why did you have to get stuck with your best friends' enemies?

"Well," you begin, continuing to place some cans and boxes on the shelves of the pantry. "Sollux is coming over."

"What?!" Vriska replies loudly. Still kneeling on the floor, you turn your head to look at her as she stands up. "Why??"

"Because he's alone and in danger and I haven't seen him since before the apocalypse!" You reply.

Vriska stood silent.

"Remember when you first picked me up earlier today and I was running along the streets? I was on my way to his apartment because he needed help."

"He's not staying here." She responds calmly.

"Why?" You ask, shocked by her answer.

"Because he's annoying with his stupid bipolar mood swings and is too damn stubborn to cooperate with anyone."

"Don't talk about him like that!" You snap. "He can't help what he has and maybe if you actually treat him with some respect he would actually be willing to cooperate. But seeing as you're you, that isn't exactly a possibility for him."

"Of course you take his side, you always have to defend your boyfriend rather than what actually matters."

"Boyfriend?!" Your face turns red. "Stop saying that, we aren't even together in that way!"

"Yeah you keep telling yourself that, Megido."

You sigh. You hate it when she calls you by your last name to act superior.

"If you don't mind, I'll be putting this stuff away by myself now. Go ahead and go back to what you were doing before, we'll discuss this later." Vriska orders, shooing you away.

     You give her a hateful glare and stand up to leave the kitchen. You head to the staircase and walk up to the second floor, only to sit down at the top of the stairs. You're clearly not enjoying your stay at Vriska's house but it's not like there's anywhere else you could go.

     Vriska had always been bothersome since you met in kindergarten, but you didn't end your friendship with her until your sophomore year in high school. She used to just tease you but by high school had been repeatedly mocking and harassing you and Sollux, as well as your other friends. She would make accusations about you and Sollux being in a romantic relationship just to embarrass the both of you and did it to Karkat and Terezi as well. She would make fun of Eridan being single and she used to be in a relationship with Tavros in which she would abuse him until he built up the courage to dump her. Vriska was especially verbally abusive, and sometimes she would even make you feel inadequate or insecure at times.

     It wasn't until sophomore year though, when you got into a car accident because of her. You, having not been old enough to drive yet at the time, were in Sollux's car and he was driving to the movie theater so you both could see a movie with Karkat and Terezi. During the car ride Vriska had been sending Sollux numerous text messages, which were just to annoy him, to the point where he couldn't take the sound of his phone's notification tone anymore and picked it up to read the texts. During those few seconds of taking his eyes off the road, he ended up unknowingly running a red light and then crashing into another car on the four-way intersection. While Sollux and the driver of the other car were fine, you were extremely injured and suffered a broken leg, arm, a few fractured ribs, and a concussion since the other car hit Sollux's directly where you were sitting. The doctors said you were lucky to survive, and because of your injuries you could not walk or engage in your favorite archaeological activities for weeks and you went through depression which took away most of your emotions for a few months. Ever since then, you no longer liked Vriska while you were still in bad shape and even after you got help from rehabilitation, physical therapy, and support groups. You never tried to harm her or antagonize her however, you simply did your best to avoid her despite her regret for what she did. And whenever she spoke to you, you tried to be nice because you enjoy being nice to people. Eventually you two decided to let go of the past, but Sollux never really did. He has a tendency to hold grudges.

     You suddenly feel your phone vibrate in your skirt pocket. When you take it out and unlock the screen, you see a notification from Pesterchum so you open the application to see an open chat window.

\-- centaursTesticle  [CT]  began pestering apocalypseArisen  [AA]  \--  
CT: D --> Aradia  
CT: D --> May I speak to you   
CT: D --> Or in this case, type  
AA: why 0ver pesterchum?  
AA: i h0pe y0u are aware that we are in the same building  
CT: D --> Of course I am aware  
CT: D --> However I am not currently available to speak in person  
AA: 0h 0kay  
AA: what w0uld y0u like t0 discuss?  
CT: D --> I wanted to apologize  
AA: equius y0u have already ap0l0gized t0 me numer0usly  
AA: while i d0 accept it i d0 n0t wish t0 pursue a r0mantic relati0nship with y0u again  
AA: i t0ld y0u its 0ver  
CT: D --> Actually that is not what I wished to discuss  
CT: D --> I am apologizing for my jealousy of your new companion  
AA: jeal0usy?  
CT: D --> Yes  
CT: D --> Every time I witnessed your interactions with your Captor friend I felt inferior and made into a joke  
CT: D --> So I am apologizing for my histrioni% as well as 100king down upon your new romantic interests  
CT: D --> I am no longer concerned  
AA: w0w  
AA: well thats g00d then  
AA: 0ther than the fact that there is 0ne flaw in y0ur little declaration  
CT: D --> Flaw  
AA: yes  
AA: i am n0t in any r0mantic relati0nships  
AA: s0llux and i are 0nly friends!  
CT: D --> But  
CT: D --> You are not denying having any romantic interests  
AA: i th0ught y0u said y0u are n0 l0nger concerned ab0ut my l0ve life  
CT: D --> Hrrk  
CT: D --> That is correct  
AA: anyway  
AA: while we are still having a conversati0n i just th0ught i w0uld tell y0u s0mething  
CT: D --> What is it  
AA: s0llux is c0ming 0ver t0 visit  
CT: D --> What  
CT: D --> Why  
AA: because i have n0t seen him since bef0re this ap0calypse and i miss him  
AA: he is als0 pr0bably in danger right n0w!  
AA: 0nce he arrives please d0 n0t act s0 weirdly ar0und him  
CT: D --> I will try not to however I cannot make any promises  
CT: D --> Is he going to remain in this residence if he arrives  
AA: i h0pe s0  
AA: that depends 0n whether vriska will all0w him t0  
AA: if n0t then i guess i will leave with him  
CT: D --> That is unfortunate  
CT: D --> I apologize if that remark was vulgar  
AA: its 0kay  
AA: and im g0ing to be h0nest and say that i feel m0re c0mf0rtable with him than with y0u and the 0thers  
CT: D --> I understand your reasoning   
AA: thank y0u  
AA: sh0uldnt y0u be helping eridan with s0me weap0ns and defenses?  
CT: D --> Yes  
CT: D --> I will go do that now  
AA: g00dbye  
\-- apocalypseArisen  [AA]  ceased pestering centaursTesticle  [CT]  \--

     Well that conversation sure felt awkward for you. Honestly you're kind of surprised Equius is actually willing to not be creepy for once but you're not completely sure he will keep his word. 

     You look around you to see a large hallway wonderfully decorated with paintings and ornate vases and sculptures. Your curiosity piqued, you stand up and walk through a random door and into a room you believe belongs to Vriska. The walls are painted cerulean blue and are adorned with a multitude of fake spider webs and movie posters with Nic Cage's face. A set of Spiderman pajamas are sprawled out on the messy bed, and clothing as well as broken 8-balls are scattered across the floor. This room sure is messy. You feel the sudden urge to clean up a little, but you successfully resist. Maybe messing with Vriska's stuff isn't a very good idea. 

     After looking around the bedroom for around five minutes, you see a picture frame sitting on a dark wooden desk in front of a large curtained window. You curiously walk over to it to pick it up, careful not to to step on any of the objects lying around on the floor. It seems to be just about a year old. It shows Vriska, her long black hair behind her back, wearing a formal blue dress. On either side of her stands her older sister Aranea, wearing a matching dress and a white headband in her short hair in addition to her outfit, and their mother whose name you never quite learned. She has no hair on her head aside from her eyebrows but she wears a large black floppy hat as well as a black trench coat. While Aranea is the only one smiling in the photograph, you find that the picture gives you sort of an uneasy feeling that you can't explain.

 "Aradia!!!!!!!!" You hear Vriska yell from downstairs, startling you to where you drop the picture frame onto the floor, creating a thud that so desperately hope nobody heard.

Your heart races as you quickly kneel down to pick up the frame and see a large crack on the glass that protects the photo.

"Your boyfriend is here!" She yells.

     Well now your face is turning red. When will she stop calling him that? The more she says that, the more you wonder about how you feel about Sollux. You do like him a lot as a friend, of course you do, but you feel like there's something else too and you're not sure what it is. Recently you've been feeling butterflies in your stomach when you hung out with him and you've wanted to be with him more often but surely it's not a romantic crush, he's one of your best friends. Maybe it is? You don't even know.

"I'm coming!" You shout back to Vriska nervously.

     In a panic, you put the damaged picture frame back onto Vriska's desk before leaving her bedroom. You sure hope she doesn't find out you were in there, she would probably kick you out of the house! Plus you can't help your curiosity. When there's something you want to learn about, you go and figure it out and that's something you've always done especially on your archeological adventures. You would sometimes pull all-nighters researching things about fossils and ancient ruins and you wouldn't care that you would sacrifice your sleep, you just loved to learn more about the things you find. Of course you blame Indiana Jones for this passion you've had since you were 5 years old. Despite being made fun of back in elementary and middle school for being "not like other girls" and liking to dig around in dirt, you always loved archaeology and adventure. Not only did your passion and experience help you get a few scholarships to some great universities, but it's also helped you stay physically fit which came in pretty handy for the apocalypse. 

     You rush downstairs, almost tripping along the way. As soon as you make it to the first floor, you make a run for the door until you suddenly bump right into Vriska and accidentally tackle her to the floor. 

"Ow!" 

"Aradia what the hell????????" 

"What the fuck is going on here?" 

You look up to see Sollux standing there with a confused and conflicted look on his face, as well as an ice pack he is holding on the left side of his head. 

"...Wow this sure is awkward." You say, looking down at Vriska who is uncomfortably lying right underneath you. 

"Yeah, no shit." She snaps. "Can you get off of me?!" 

Embarrassed, you get up off of her, allowing her to stand up and dust herself off with her hands. 

"Sorry." You say. She doesn't respond and only picks her glasses up off the floor. 

"...Are you alright?" Sollux asked, still sounding confused and wondering what just happened. 

     "Yeah I'm fine." You say, smiling. Filled with joy, you run over to him and hug him tightly. He wraps his arms around you in return, tighter than he normally does when you hug him, and you feel the butterflies in your stomach come back to life. After a long minute of hugging, you pull away, resting your hands on his shoulders and look him up and down to see a few bruises on his arms as well as blood smears. "What happened to you?" You ask with concern, a frown replacing your grin.

"My car flipped over on my way here when I tried not to the hit some dead guy in the middle of the road and then he attacked me. Not that the car was mine in the first place but--" 

"Are you okay? You have blood all over you!" You interrupt. 

"I should be saying the same about you." He replies. 

You look down at your clothes and see the dry blood stains that cover it.

"You can have some of my sister's clothes if you want." Vriska says. "She left for college 3 years ago ago and left some of her old clothes here for me but they don't fit me."

"Really?" You reply, letting go of Sollux and turning to face Vriska.

"Yeah, but first you have to shower. Those clothes are expensive and I don't want you getting blood all over them!"

"Yeah I probably should..."

"As for you," Vriska continues, looking at Sollux. "If you want new clothes, there aren't any in this house for you unless you like dresses."

"Actually I packed some of my own clothes in my backpack so I'm fine." He replies, pointing to the backpack on his back.

"Wow, you actually prepared. We'll discuss your stay here later." She replies. She turns to look at you. "Anyway, the bathroom is upstairs behind the third door to the left in the hallway. Aranea's room is right next to it so you can grab whatever you want from her closet. I'm sure she won't mind you borrowing an outfit."

"Sounds good to me!" You say, smiling.

     You're glad you're lucky enough to have the opportunity to get cleaned up and get a nice outfit in a situation like this. Plus, you're also happy that you got to reunite with Sollux! This is a good day.


	10. Pounce de Leon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Nepeta continues her trip with Feferi and Tavros, they make a new friend but then meet a tragic event. Feferi consults a friend for advice on the matter.

* Nepeta's POV * 

* * *

      The rustling in the bushes suddenly stop, a wave of confusion washing over you. You let your guard down for just a second as you turn around to see Tavros and Feferi standing there watching the bushes, and you quickly turn back when you hear light footsteps in front of you. A white cat stained with dirt jumps from a bush and you almost jump back in surprise when you realize what it is. You smile as you retract your claws and kneel down in front of the scrawny cat, which you assume is a stray. 

"Hi there!" You say, reaching your arm over to pet the cat. "What are you doing here alone?" 

The cat's ears fold back as it lowers its head and backs away, growling. 

"It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you." 

Tavros scratches the back of his head. "Uh, what is a cat doing, in the middle of the woods?" He asks nervously. 

"That's a good question." Feferi agreed. "There's nothing out here but woods. There must be someone nearby it could have followed." 

"I dunno." You say, inching a bit closer to the feline. "Maybe it just wandered off and got lost." 

     You reach further for the cat, receiving more growls, until it stops to sniff your hand. You smile as it does so, and then it rubs its head against your hand, signalling its acceptance for you to pet it. You always had some kind of a special thing with cats, especially since you own 3 of them at home. 

As you begin scratching its head, Feferi smirks and crosses her arms. "You must be like a cat whisperer." She says. 

"I get that a lot!" You reply, smiling back at her. 

You get lost in the joy of making another friend as you continue to scratch the top of the purring cat's head. "I think we should keep her." You say, tucking a lock of your hair between your ear, forming a curl that hung beside your cheek. 

"Are you sure that's, um, a good idea? We don't know where it's been. I mean, _she's_  been." 

"She looks like she hasn't eaten in a long time!" You reply. "I think we can take care of her." 

     Receiving no response, you think for a moment. "I think I'll name her Pounce de Leon!" You say with excitement. You reach over to pick up your new pet when you suddenly hear screaming and yelling right behind you, purrompting to stand up and get your claws out when Pounce de Leon scurries away. 

     You see what looks to be a ravenous decomposing dead person on top of a screaming Tavros, who is desperately holding it up its face to prevent it from chomping his face off. 

"Somebody get it off of me!!" He yells as he panics. 

     That's when Feferi runs in and kicks the corpse off of him, sending it to the ground next to him. You immediately get on top of the struggling corpse to drive your claw-like blades into its head, Tavros on the ground next to you shielding his face with his arms from the spatter of blood. 

"Are you okay?" Feferi asked with great concern, helping Tavros get on his feet. "Your hand is bleeding!" 

He nervously looks down at his hands as he stands, seeing a single row of bloody teeth marks on one of his palms through the layer of blood that covers it. "Oh no..." 

"Maybe you'll be okay." You frown as you stand up. 

"But what if it gets infected? We don't have any bandages!" 

You remove your coat and hold it in your hands. "Maybe this will help."

Tavros just looks down at it with uncertainty. "But it's filthy and covered in cat hair."

You suddenly remember that Tavros is allergic to cats.

"I think I'll just try not to, uh, touch anything." 

"Should we go back to the house?" You ask. 

"I think that would be best for Tavros." Feferi suggested. 

After coming to an agreement, you turn around and begin walking back toward your house. 

"What happens when you get bitten by those things?" Feferi asks. "I never really understood how someone could become one of them." 

Tavros looks down with worry, holding his wounded hand with the other. 

"Whatever it is, it had to have spread somehow. I haven't actually seen anyone turn so I'm not sure how it happens." You say, frowning. 

"Maybe I could contact one of our friends who might have dealt with this situation before." She replies. 

* * *

* Feferi's POV * 

* * *

     You grab your long hair and throw it behind your shoulders before you reach for your shell phone-- you mean your cell phone, out of the pocket of your skirt. 

"Could you do that?" Tavros asks. "There is no Wi-Fi out here." 

You give him a smile. "Actually I have my own internet. Thank goodness the phone and power companies are doing what they can to maintain the ability of people to contact each other!" 

     As you open the Pesterchum app on your iPhone, you scan your contact list to think of possible candidates. The only people online seem to Aradia, Sollux, Kanaya, and Eridan. You guess your best option would be Aradia. She is your best friend and you sincerely hope she has some good advice to offer. 

\-- cuttlefishCuller  [CC]  began pestering apocalypseArisen  [AA]  \--  
CC: S)(ello Aradia! 38D  
AA: feferi hey!  
AA: where are y0u?  
CC: I'm wit)( Nepeta, we're in t)(e woods and )(eaded to )(er )(ouse.  
CC: Do you know w)(at )(appens w)(en someone is bitten by t)(e undead?  
AA: unf0rtunately yes  
AA: i have seen it happen when i f0ught them 0ff multiple times  
AA: if y0u get bitten by them 0r any 0f their bl00d enters y0ur b0dy then y0u get sick  
AA: it eventually kills y0u and y0u turn int0 0ne 0f them  
AA: h0wever i am n0t sure 0f the sympt0ms 0f the illness and h0w l0ng it takes t0 end 0nes life  
AA: y0u werent exp0sed t0 that illness were y0u?  
CC: No! But Tavros was.  
CC: W)(ile we were going for a s)(ort walk, we were ambus)(ed by one of t)(e undead and it attacked Tavros.  
CC: I tried to kelp )(im but unfortunately I was too late. 38(  
AA: 0h n0!  
AA: thats very unf0rtunate  
AA: h0w is he d0ing at this m0ment?  
CC: )(e's okay. It's not)(ing but a small bite on t)(e palm of )(is )(and.  
CC: W)(at about you?  
AA: im 0kay  
AA: im staying with vriska at her h0use as well as with equius and eridan  
AA: and s0llux just recently arrived but im n0t sure vriska will all0w him t0 stay s0 if she makes him leave i will g0 with him  
AA: h0nestly id rather be with him than with my ex b0yfriend and the 0ther pe0ple wh0 hate him  
CC: I t)(ink it would make t)(ings less awkward for you.  
CC: Exactly w)(at )(appened between you and Equius t)(at caused you to sever your relations)(ip?  
CC: I don't t)(ink you ever told me!  
AA: it was a very l0ng time ag0 back in 0ur s0ph0m0re year when y0u and i werent very cl0se yet  
AA: basically i at first th0ught i liked equius because he seemed kind and treated me nicely but later 0n i realized what a classist jerk he is  
AA: he th0ught i was less 0f a pers0n because im n0t wealthy like he is and he w0uld act embarrassed t0 be with me in public unless i was wearing s0mething that made me l00k s0phisticated and he w0uld even try t0 c0nvince me t0 be m0re "pr0per and lady like"  
AA: he never liked me but rather liked his 0wn idea 0f me and later 0n we w0uld get int0 heated arguments until 0ne day i was tired 0f being with him s0 i just called it quits  
AA: my dad wasnt t00 happy because he th0ught he was right for me but i refuse t0 feel 0bligated t0 stay in an em0ti0nally abusive relati0nship  
CC: I'm sorry to )(ear that.  
CC: I reelly wis)( )(e and Eridan would listen to me w)(en I tell t)(em t)(at our classes do not make us better t)(an anybody!  
CC: I swear t)(ey can be so closed-minded at times.  
AA: i guess y0u c0uld say that  
AA: h0w are y0u and eridan?  
CC: W)(ale we still )(aven't gotten along so w)(ale since our break-up considering )(e still acts so immature.  
CC: )(aving to prevent )(im and Sollux from killing eac)( ot)(er even after Sollux and I broke up is especially ex)(austing!  
CC: T)(ey're pike t)(ese small c)(ildren in t)(e playground w)(o fig)(t over --EV-ERYT)(ING!  
AA: yes they have g0tten pretty vi0lent at times  
AA: if y0u d0nt mind me asking what happened with y0u and s0llux?  
AA: all he t0ld me was that it just didnt w0rk 0ut  
CC: W)(ale )(e wasn't lying.  
CC: )(onestly we were very )(appy and close toget)(er at first but as time went by we just lost t)(at spark we used to )(ave!  
CC: We bot)( agreed t)(at we were better off as friends and t)(at we just weren't rig)(t for each ot)(er in t)(at way.  
CC: None of t)(ose bad, dramatic s)(enanigans like w)(at )(appened between you and Equius.  
AA: that s0unds like a g00d way t0 end it  
AA: n0t that i didnt appr0ve 0f y0ur relati0nship  
CC: I know w)(at you mean!  
AA: jeez r0mance sure is c0nfusing  
FF: It s)(ore can be.  
AA: anyway i have t0 g0  
AA: h0pefully we can meet up s00n!  
CC: Goodbye! 38D  
\-- apocalypseArisen [AA] ceased pestering cuttlefishCuller [CC] \--

     Well that was a nice conversation. You guess you spent a little more time talking to Aradia than you should have but it gave you a chance to check up on your friend and you're glad you did what you did. You put your cell phone back into your pocket and look up at Nepeta and Tavros, who are walking in front of you, to see that they are both doing okay and Nepeta is even holding Pounce de Leon in her arms. Wow you sure were distracted. You then look up at the sky above. Darkening blue hues decorated it as a hint of orange was visible in the horizon.

"That took a while." Tavros says, looking back at you. "Did you learn anything?"

"Yeah." You reply. "I talked to Aradia about it and she said that if you get bitten by the undead or their blood somehow enters your body then you get sick and it eventually kills you."

Tavros remained silent for a few seconds as he looks down at his feet. "Oh."

"I'm sorry."

      The three of you safely return to Nepeta's home in which you and Nepeta help Tavros briefly clean up his wounded hand, hoping it would make some kind of a difference. You proceed to have a small dinner before the three of you lock up the house and get ready for bed, by which you sleep in Meulin's bedroom and Tavros sleeps in the living room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW I'M SORRY THIS CHAPTER PROBABLY ISN'T THAT GOOD and also I apologize but I'm absolutely terrible at portraying Tavros and had no other ideas to make the chapter interesting so I had to make the thing happen. Okay now the next chapter should be about Karkat, Kanaya, Terezi, and Gamzee. Surely you've noticed by now that there is a cycle. Chapters will be about Karkat and whoever is with him, then Sollux, then Aradia, then Nepeta, and over and over again. The cycle will probably change, depending on if groups split up and which characters are with who. And one more thing, for those of you who came here for shipping, it's pretty likely that Arasol will be the primary ship. Don't worry, there will be Karezi as well.


	11. 8ygones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Resisting the urge to argue with Gamzee, Karkat and the others begin to stay at a nearby house in which the power and water still seem to work. Karkat finally takes his much-needed shower and Kanaya makes amends with a significant other.

* Karkat's POV *

* * *

 "Why the fuck are you here?!" You shout as you turn to face Gamzee after pulling away from Terezi's hug.

"Karkat be quiet, there could be more predators around that may hear you." Kanaya says, walking up behind you to rest a hand on your shoulder.

"He didn't do anything wrong," Terezi says. "He helped me." 

"He _helped_  you?" You scowl. "And how the fuck did that go?" 

"I went to the grocery store to buy some snacks for that little party we were planning before people started going crazy and he was the there when I arrived. Before we said anything to each other, a bunch of those dead people broke in and started attacking and Gamzee helped me escape." 

"Of course I would motherfucking help, we're friends." Gamzee states. 

"We are not friends." Terezi says. "I will never forgive you for what you've done to me!" 

You suddenly feel more angry at Gamzee but before you can yell at him, Kanaya intervenes. 

"Everyone calm down!" She orders. "Your bickering won't ameliorate our situation in the slightest. It's imperative that we search for a safe place to stay that possesses food and water. Karkat and I have been lost in the woods for days without proper necessities and we would very much like to have a shelter soon." 

     Terezi sighs and looks (smells) around before she walks over to a corpse near one of the windows of the house. Scowling and silently cursing to herself, she kneels down and grabs her cane, pulling it out of the corpse's head, which you're pretty sure just made a really disturbing sound. 

     Soon enough after she returns, the four of you agree to check the house next to the one you first found and you sneak into the backyard, cautiously checking to make sure nobody is around. Terezi grabs a blouse from the clothing line that hangs from a pole at one end and a window awning next to an empty swimming pool at the other and uses it to wipe the blood off of the body of her cane. 

Kanaya walks over to the open glass double doors and begins to bang on the adjacent wall with her fist. "Is anybody in here?" She calls out. 

After about a minute of waiting, she uses her hand to motion you and the others to follow her as she walks inside. "If any of the undead were in there, they would have heard me and come out by now." She states. 

     You and and the others follow her inside, cautiously looking around for any attackers. The house seems to be completely free of bodies and signs of struggle; no blood, no dead people, no broken glass, no bullet holes, and the power still works. Everything is clean and neat as if the world is still normal. This part of the neighborhood may have been evacuated; you don't remember seeing any cars in any of the driveways nearby. You're just wondering where the dead guys you encountered earlier even came from. 

Terezi walks over to a sink in the kitchen, which is not separated by a wall from the living room, and turns the faucet on. "Guys, the water still works!" She announces, turning her head to face you and Kanaya. 

"What? Really?" You ask, feeling a glimpse of hope. 

"Yeah." She confirms, using the bottle hand soap beside the faucet to wash her blood-stained hands. 

     As soon as you remember that the power is still on, you practically run over to the fridge to open it up, Kanaya following behind you after putting her chainsaw down against a wall. The fridge seems to be only half-full, but you figure it's better than nothing. You kneel down to grab two water bottles from the bottom shelf and hand one of them to Kanaya, who gladly accepts his offer. After a good few minutes of enjoying the water you so desperately needed, you put the quarter-full bottle down on the kitchen counter. 

"If there's water and power, that means the showers must be fuctional." Kanaya points out. 

"Do you want to go get cleaned up?" You ask. 

"You can go first. Despite having done more of the dirty work, I believe you deserve it more." 

     You nod and walk into a hallway and through one of the doors to find what looks to be the master bedroom. You honestly don't give a shit about what's in there, you just want to take a shower already. You browse the closet and dresser for clean clothes that would fit you well and make your way to the bathroom, which is fortunately well-stocked with clean towels and all the necessary hygienic products. You proceed to undress and step into the shower to let the hot water rain over you, washing away the dirt, oil, and blood that occupied your skin and hair. You can't begin to even find the words to describe the relief you feel from finally finding a proper shelter and being able to clean yourself up with a nice shower. 

* * *

* Kanaya's POV * 

* * *

     You take a few more sips of water from the bottle in your hand, appreciating the first taste of clean water you've gotten in four days. Sitting on the sofa in the living room, you place your water bottle on the coffee table that stands in front of you. You sigh and run your hand through your short black hair. You haven't looked in a mirror while but you just know you look absolutely terrible right now. 

     You remove your cell phone from your skirt pocket and open Pestchum to check if you've gotten any messages. You would have called some friend for help earlier but you don't usually get a good signal in the middle of the woods. 

     It looks like Vriska is online. You sincerely hope she is doing alright, and you regret the huge argument you had before you got lost. You regret yelling at her for kissing Tavros while she and you were dating. You mean, you were pretty upset about that and she's hard to deal with but if you had known about the apocalypse beforehand, things would have been different. You hope she isn't still mad at you. 

\-- grimAuxiliatrix [GA] began pestering arachnidsGrip [AG] \--  
GA: Vriska Are You There  
AG: Kanaya?  
AG: Yeah. I'm here.  
GA: Are You Okay  
AG: Of coooooooourse I'm okay. Why wouldn't I 8e?  
GA: Oh I'm Not Sure  
GA: Perhaps It Is The Undead Which Roams Our Area That May Pose A Threat  
AG: Well yeah, I'm aware of them. 8ut I'm okay.  
GA: That Is Pleasant News  
AG: ........  
GA: What  
AG: Why are you messaging me?  
GA: Am I Prohibited From Doing So  
AG: No. I thought you h8ed me.  
GA: Vriska The Immense Argument We Engaged In Does Not Mean I Hate You  
GA: I Was Upset By What You Did Yes  
GA: However I Can Assure You I Do Not Hate You  
GA: And Frankly I Am Glad I Am Contacting You At This Moment  
AG: Really?  
GA: Yes  
GA: I Want To Apologize For Yelling At You That Day  
GA: Had I Been Informed Of The Impending Apocalypse I Would Not Have Done So  
AG: Well that's gr8 then.  
AG: 8ut there's really no reason to make this like a sad romantic movie.  
AG: What do you say we just let 8ygones 8e 8ygones?  
GA: Oh  
GA: Okay  
AG: ::::)  
GA: While We Are No Longer On That Topic Where Are You  
AG: I'm at home.  
GA: Should I Be Concerned  
AG: Of course not! I'm well-stocked on food and weapons and I've united with Eridan, Equius, and Aradia to 8uild the uuuuuuuultim8 survival team!!!!!!!!  
AG: Oh and Sollux is here too 8ut I'm not planning on letting him stay.  
GA: Exactly Why Is Your Relationship With Him So Problematic  
AG: He completely 8lames me for the car accident he got into that almost killed Aradia.  
AG: The asshole doesn't seem to know a8out the dangers of texting and driving and apparently it's my fault he took his eyes off the road!  
AG: I swear, the way he always defends her and 8lames everything on me makes me sick!  
GA: To Be Truthful I would Not Blame Him  
GA: If I Had A Choice To Defend My Friend Or My Enemy I Would Defend My Friend  
AG: Whatever. Anyway where are you?  
GA: Actually Im Not Really Sure  
GA: I Was Lost In The Woods With Karkat For Four Days Before We Made It Out Safely And Found An Abandoned House In An Unfamiliar Neighborhood To Seek Shelter In  
AG: That must be why you haven't been online for a while.  
GA: Well Yes  
GA: The Woods Isnt Exactly A Location That Harbors A Good Signal For Mobile Phones  
AG: You don't say?  
AG: Fuck, I gotta go. I think Equius 8roke something again.  
AG: May8e we could catch up l8er.  
GA: That Would Be A Nice Experience  
\-- arachnidsGrip [AG] ceased pestering grimAuxiliatrix [GA] \--

As soon as you see Vriska disconnect from the chat, you notice her go offline. Before you could do anything, you hear footsteps approach you from behind the sofa. 

"Who were you talking to?" Terezi asks, holding a small cup of what looks to be cherry-flavored JELL-O in one hand and a plastic spoon in the other.

"Vriska." You reply.

Terezi's eyes widen with shock. "Wait, really? Is she okay?"

"Yes, she is in her home with Eridan, Equius, Aradia, and Sollux." 

She furrows her brow in confusion. "Why are Aradia and Sollux there? I thought they both hated her."

"I believe they do however Vriska did not explain their reasoning for being there."

"Weird." Terezi mumbles, delivering a spoonful of her gelatin into her mouth with a satisfied smile. "So do you think we could stay here for a few days?"

"I currently see no better options so I think staying here would be our best decision for now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, sorry this chapter isn't so long! I didn't have much inspiration and motivation. I hope it's good enough, though.


	12. Stay or Leave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vriska kicks Sollux out of her house and Aradia chooses to leave him, and they agree to go somewhere else.

* Sollux's POV *

* * *

      As Vriska leaves the room with her cell phone in her hand, you let yourself fall backward upon a sofa that sits behind you. You didn't exactly put much thought into this trip; you wanted to find Aradia and now you did but you're not sure if you will or even want to stay here, considering Equius and Eridan are both here too. Words cannot describe your hatred for those two. 

     You get bored and reach for your backpack which you put on the floor in front of you and you open it up. You rummage through the contents and take out the stack of pictures you took from your bedroom and look through them. The majority of them are just photos of you and your family during different time periods. There's one when you were a baby, which you honestly want to throw away but can't considering your dad gave you the pictures and you're not even sure if your family is alive. You've never met your mom, and whenever you asked your dad about her he just said that she left shortly after you were born. You apparently also had a twin brother who died at birth but there were no pictures of him so you have a hard time believing that as well. Your family confuses you sometimes.

     You find a picture of you on your second birthday with 5-year-old Mituna smearing cake all over your face while you're throwing a huge tantrum and this photo is the one you want to burn the most because both yours and Mituna's facial expressions look absolutely embarrassing. There's you on your first day of kindergarten and a bunch of other elementary school grades, and in every single photo you're too busy playing on your Gameboy to even care about anything or look at the camera.

     You find a picture from middle school of you and Karkat sitting together at a lunch table and then there's another one of you two and Aradia standing together under some tree. Then there's one of the three of you and you could see the school in the background. You remember this is a day you and your friends were skipping school with the help of Mituna who usually skipped school himself. You remember you, Karkat, and Aradia were one of those groups of kids who always hung out together. Except Aradia actually had other friends like Terezi, Vriska, and Tavros, but she primarily hung out with you and Karkat at school since the two of you didn't really have any other friends but each other.

     Just looking at the photos of the three of you together reminded you of how short and childish you all looked; you were all these prepubescent moody tweens who took part in the weirdest middle school trends. Terezi would hang out with you sometimes too and you remember her silly band obsession and her random phase, neither of which are to be spoken of. Karkat used to be the shortest of your group and you often enjoyed teasing him about it. However Aradia was the tallest of the group at the time so she used to tease you about being short as well to avenge Karkat, but by the time you reached high school, you (and Karkat) hit your growth spurt and eventually became a lot taller than her so you got to tease her to get back at her. Unfortunately for Karkat, he remained the shortest so the teasing of him never really ended. None of you really take it so seriously though. Except for Karkat sometimes. But on the bright side, he managed to finally grow just a bit taller than Terezi. Besides your heights, not much changed about the three of you. Karkat gained some weight, Aradia has curves now, and all you did was grow a pair of sideburns and yet you're still so skinny that some people somehow think you have an eating disorder. You're not even that skinny, it's not like you can see your entire skeleton through your skin.

     You continue to look through your high school photos of you and your friends, which were mostly selfies, and they bring back many of your high school memories. You remember you used to occasionally hack into the school's system to pull a few pranks without ever getting caught, attending some video game conventions over summer and winter breaks, and making a shit ton of video games and computer software yourself. You used to be made fun of for being a "nerd" and a "virgin" at school, but honestly you no longer give a shit about what people think of you.

     You see a few photos of you and Feferi from back when you were still dating during your sophomore year. You remember you first met her on that first day of school and she was extremely friendly to you; you would get lost a few times and she would help you find your way to your new classes. Whenever you felt bad and blamed yourself for Aradia's car accident and her injuries and her depression, Feferi was there to reassure you that it was an accident and it wasn't your fault. She was there for you when you had nobody else to talk to. She always seemed all bubbly and excited about a lot of things and eventually the two of you ended up liking each other and then becoming a couple a few weeks later. You were considered lucky by a few guys to date her because she was the captain of the school's competitive swim team but you're pretty sure they only really cared about seeing her in a bathing suit. But either way, as time went by you just didn't have those feelings you use to have for her anymore. Feferi felt the same and you two decided to go back to being friends about a month later because you felt you were better off that way and that was that.

     As you flip through some photos you took of yourself and Aradia, you begin to recall he memories you have shared with her. This must have been from the same year and just after the accident; she wasn't smiling much and sat in a wheelchair with a cast on her arm. Then you saw some pictures in which she was in crutches and her arm no longer had a cast. There weren't that make photos taken of her during those times but then you reached a few photos where she was smiling again and seemed enthusiastic and just seemed as if there was no accident. You remember these moments are from your junior year because one of the photos is a selfie of the two of you and you remember skipping a class together on that day and just going to the library to use the computers with a fake note from the "teacher". You didn't begin to have feelings for her until the middle of the year yet when you did you always denied it because you thought it was ridiculous to have a crush on your one of your best friends. You didn't even realize it until you starting admiring things about her that you never really paid much attention to before: her smile, her laugh, her dimples, her hair... You feel cheesy just thinking about this. You've basically found yourself attracted to the way she's usually so happy as well as the way she looks, and you're not gonna lie, you find her curves pretty attractive too. You just wonder if she even feels the same way about you, which honestly you don't think is very likely. There were some points where you were in a bad mood and ignored her or told her to go away or told her to calm down when she was excited about things you didn't really care about so you wouldn't blame her if she doesn't like you back. But despite all the times you've subconsciously treated her like shit, she stayed by your side and you appreciate that. 

     Karkat never really liked having pictures taken of him so you don't have that many with him in it. However in the ones that do include him, he is either trying to shield his face from camera or looks crabby like he always did, assuming he wasn't distracted by something else. Despite the constant arguments you two would get into, you've always considered him your best friend ever since you met in kindergarten. The majority of your friendship has always consisted of either sharing your hatred for the world or helping Karkat with his computer issues (since he likes programming too but really sucks at it). Sometimes you would skip a few classes with him and Aradia when neither of you felt like dealing with other people's bullshit or you just didn't feel like wasting time being bored to death. Karkat sometimes tells you he hates you but you know he doesn't actually mean it considering he has sometimes shown some genuine concern or support for your well-being as a friend. As annoying as he can be, you've gotta admit he is a pretty good friend. 

     You sigh and put the photos back into your backpack, leaning back into the sofa with boredom. You hear footsteps from the stair case behind the corner of the walls on the other side of the room, and instead of Aradia like you had hoped (since she's the only person in the building you even like), it turns out to be Eridan. 

"Oh great." You mumble under breath with sarcasm. 

He seems to hear you because halfway there to the kitchen, he stops to turn to look at you and scowls. "What the fuck are you doin' here?" He says in his usual condescending tone. 

God his stupid wavy accent annoys you. What kind of speech impediment does he even have? 

"That's none of your business." You say, trying to keep calm and pretending not to be bothered by his existence.

Suddenly Vriska walks back in and sees Eridan. "God dammit, you guys aren't arguing again are you?" She complains crossing her arms.

Neither you nor Eridan respond. 

"Besides, there's nothing to worry about." She continues, turning to face Eridan. "He's not staying here." 

"Wait what?" You exclaim, standing up. 

Vriska rolls her eyes. "Did you really think I'd actually let you stay here?" 

"No, I just--" 

"Let me guess. You came to see your girlfriend." 

Your cheeks turn red. "Stop calling her that, we're not dating!" 

Vriska raises her eyebrows. "That must be why you're blushing then, huh." 

Curse your pale skin. You wish it wasn't so noticeable when you blush. "No, it's because you're embarrassing me." 

Vriska just smirks, and Eridan sighs. 

"I don't even know why I'm listenin' to this." Eridan mutters as he walks past Vriska and into the kitchen.

"Anywaaaaaaaay," Vriska begins after a short pause. "You're leaving tonight." 

You sigh with disappointment. 

Just then, Aradia walks down the stairs with a small white towel in her hands, using it to dry her hair that rests in front of her shoulder. "What's going on here? I hope you two aren't fighting again." She says. 

"Are you wearing my clothes?" Vriska asks. 

"Yeah. All of your sister's clothes were too big for me." Aradia replies. She's wearing an unzipped gray hoodie over what looks to be a plain black t-shirt underneath, as well as a pair of dark blue jeans and her own black sneakers. 

Vriska just groans in disappointment but doesn't bother to argue. "Whatever, I have more clothes anyway."

"So what's going on here?" Aradia repeats.

"I'm kicking him out. I told you I won't let him stay here." Vriska replies. "But course you do have choice to leave with him." 

Aradia opens her mouth to say something but instead stays silent for a moment. She looks at you and then back at Vriska indecisively. 

"You can either go with him where the dangers of what's outside threatens your life, or you could stay with me and my group in a secure place with food, water, and comfortable living conditions. Your choice." She continues with a smirk. 

With that, Aradia walks past you and makes her way over to the front door, leaning against the adjacent wall. 

"Wait you're actually leaving?" Vriska exclaims, raising her eyebrows. 

Aradia nods with pride but with no smile. "Yep." 

"But what about our team?!" 

"I never asked you to pick me up back there." 

"You could have DIED." 

"I know how to fight and defend myself." 

Watching the two argue continue to argue, you sigh and cross your arms with impatience. "Uh, AA?" 

"What?" 

"If we're going to leave, we should probably do that before it gets any darker out." 

"...Yeah let's go." 

     You pick up your backpack and throw it over your shoulder as you follow Aradia out the door. She opens the front passenger door to your car and gets in, and you of course sit in the driver's seat. You insert the key into the ignition, start the car, put it in gear, and pull out of the driveway. 

     As you keep your eyes peeled for anything that become a hazard, you notice the color of the sky. It seems to be a shade of dark blue all over with the sun setting in the horizon toward the right side, it's bright light shaped like dots on the road as it is obstructed by shade which is cast by the trees along the side of the road. It provides just enough light to be able to see the road ahead, however the use of the car's headlights are still necessary as it is still progressively getting dark. 

"Where did you get this car?" Aradia asks, curiously looking around at the dashboard and then at the back seats. 

"I stole it from the front of my apartment building." You reply. "But nobody was in it and I was in the middle of a riot so I kind of needed it to escape." 

"Where are we going now?" 

"I don't know. Obviously my apartment isn't safe." 

"...Can we go to my house? I want to see how my dad and my sister are doing." 

You think for a moment. "Yeah. We can go there." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, chapter 11 done! The next one will still be about be Sollux and Aradia but it'll be in Aradia's POV. Then it'll be about Nepeta's group.


	13. Pain and Suffering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aradia and Sollux arrive at her house only to find that it is empty and her family is nowhere to be found, so they stay there as she hopes her dad and her sister return.

* Aradia's POV *

* * *

    The car ride is silent. The sky is dark. You lean your head against the window and stare out at the pitch black woods that surround the vehicle. The vibration you feel in the window sort of hurts your head but it's not too bad. You don't mind. You look at Sollux for a moment to see him focusing on the road in front of him, and judging by the subtle bags under his eyes, you figure he's exhausted. You turn your head to look forward as well, at the empty street illuminated by the headlights of the car. 

"Why did you choose to leave them?" Sollux asks, still maintaining eye contact on the road. 

"Why wouldn't I?" You reply. 

"They have a secure home away from the city and they even have food, water, power, and defenses. I barely have anything." 

"Well, Vriska may have all of that, but that doesn't make her a good leader." You look down. "I know how she can be, her group will fall eventually." 

     Silence returns and the drive continues. Soon enough they reach a suburban neighborhood, which seems to be peaceful. You figure the infection that most likely started downtown where it's more populated hasn't reached the outermost parts of town yet, which makes you wonder how your family is doing. You hope they're okay. When you left your house, it was as if nothing was wrong with the world (compared to what it's like now) and it only started going back when you were near the center the city so the infection couldn't have spread to your neighborhood so quickly. You can't really get your hopes up, though; in a world like this, if dead people are rising, almost anything might as well be possible.

     You wonder why your family never even told you about the apocalypse. Perhaps they didn't want you to worry? Although you're pretty sure Damara would have spit it out by now, assuming your dad didn't scare her into keeping her mouth shut. He can be pretty scary at times but he has never actually harmed you or her. Usually when you did something he disapproved of, he would yell at you, ground you for a day or a few, and set restrictions. Damara got into less trouble, mostly because she was better at getting away with things. Sometimes when the both of you wanted to do something behind your dad's back, you would agree not to tell on each other and those were among those rare times you actually got along with her. When you were a lot younger, back when you still lived in a foster home with her, you would easily get along and would watch cartoons together. Well, back then they were cartoons to you but now you refer to them as anime. 

     You and Damara were actually born in Japan and put into a foster home. All you know about your birth mother is that she was some kind of a slave and was executed when you were barely a month old, but you don't know who your biological father is. When you were 2 years old and Damara was 5, your current father adopted the two of you and brought you to America. Because the two of you were so young, neither of you knew much about Japan and how to speak its language but Damara eventually developed an interest in anime. She ended up dropping out when her boyfriend, who got her into anime in the first place, cheated on her and dumped her because the class reminded her too much of him. She wasn't really fluent in the language when she dropped the class so she often spoke it incorrectly and with the help of Google Translate so that's what created the language barrier. As for you, you were only once interested in Japanese culture but you were already failing your Spanish class so you didn't want to go through the troubles of learning about yet another culture and language. Unlike Damara, you never really developed an interest in anime. Growing up, you've met quite a few anime fans and a lot of them have been pretty annoying, considering a lot of them were white yet were using Japanese words in sentences that were mostly English. During your freshman year in high school, some kid even once called you "kawaii". You don't even know what that means. 

     After about 10 more minutes of the silent, continuous car ride, you reach your neighborhood, which thankfully looks just as peaceful as the previous. There are still cars in most of the driveways, nobody is running around in a panic, and everything is tidy. The only weird thing you notice when you get there is that your house's driveway is empty. 

"Our car isn't there." You point out. "They must have gone looking for me." 

     As soon as Sollux pulls the car into the driveway, you immediately exit the vehicle and go into your house through the front door with ease, him following you inside with his backpack over his shoulder. The living room looks the same as usual and the lights are off, leaving the building completely dark besides the moonlight that shines through the windows. You find the light switch and flip it, turning on the light that now illuminates the living room. 

"Is anyone home?" You call out, shoving your hands into the pockets of your sweater. 

     You receive no response. With that, you check the kitchen and the other rooms of the house. You look in your dad's room, which contains usual fatherly items as well as his saxophone, but not him. You go into Damara's room only to smell smoke as usual and yet again there are cosplay and sewing materials all over her floor, desk, and bed with numerous anime posters decorating her room, mostly of Sailor Moon. Making cosplay costumes for other people has been her main source of income for a few years and you have to admit, she has gotten good at making a few outfits of her own. You look around her room and see a few mannequin heads with wigs on her dresser and some anime figurines on her desk. What a dork. But of course, the dork herself is nowhere to be found. 

You sigh and walk back into your living room, letting yourself fall backward onto the sofa in front of the TV. 

"Let me guess. Nobody is here?" Sollux asks as he sets his backpack down on the coffee table in front of you. 

You slowly shake your head. "Nope." 

"They might come back." 

"I hope so." You reply. "It's dark out, they should be back soon if they're okay." 

"Are we going to stay here for the night?" 

"Yeah. I think we'll stay here for as long as we can. The neighborhood is safe for now." 

     A moment of silence and Sollux sits down on the sofa next to you, leaning back and resting his legs on the coffee table. You don't mind his not-so-good manners, of course; you've gotten used to them over the years. Besides, the only nice thing about not having your family here is that you can relax at home and Sollux can be with you. Your dad dislikes him, particularly because of his bad manners and his usual rudeness, and you don't even want to know what Damara tries to do with him. That's why you always go over to his apartment rather than having him come over to your house.

"I wish I could have brought my computer. This is boring" He mutters.

"You and your technology." You smirk. "There is an apocalypse happening and all you can think about is your computer."

"Wow AA, way to harbor some sympathy for me with my pain and suffering!"

"I still have my laptop in my room, feel free to use it."

He thinks for a moment before he shrugs. "Alright."

     He stands up and walks into a hallway, and you follow him. The two of you enter your bedroom and you immediately run ahead of him and kneel down on the floor beside your bed, pulling your laptop out from underneath. You dust it off and set it on your lap as you sit on your bed, opening it up and entering your password. As soon as you enter it, it sends you to your desktop, in which the wallpaper is of course a high-resolution image of Indiana Jones, which go with the posters on your wall. You find this highly attractive but you feel kind of awkward having Sollux look at it.

"You still have that as your wallpaper?" He asks critically as he sits down on your bed beside you.

Your face starts to turn red. "Yes, I think he's cool. Is there a problem?" 

"No. I just," he sighs with frustration. "I don't care." 

"So what exactly are you planning on doing?" You say as you hand over your laptop. 

"I wanted to message Karkat and find out what the fuck he's doing." He says as he opens Pesterchum on your computer and logs into his account. 

He takes a moment to browse the contact list. "Shit, he's not online. Maybe I could ask Kanaya about him." 

He begins to type and does so for the next few minutes before the light suddenly flickers on and off. Suddenly it turns off, leaving your bedroom and the other rooms dark, leaving behind the light of your computer screen.

"...What just happened?" 

"The power went out." You reply. 

"Wow, thanks for the sudden break through." 

You smile. "You're welcome." 

He looks back down at the computer screen and scowls. "Of course. No internet connection." He sighs and closes the laptop before handing it to you. 

"Sorry." You look out your bedroom window to see that the rest of your neighborhood lost power as well, however the faint glow over the horizon behind the nearby houses indicate that the city still has power. "It doesn't look like things are getting any better out there." 

"Yeah. We should probably lock the doors and windows." 

"But what if my family comes back?" 

"Then we can hope they know how to knock and that we can hear them if they do." 

You frown and look down at your lap. 

"Look, I know you're worried about your family." Sollux continues. "But those dead people out there are a lot worse than you think. We don't know how smart they can be and if they come in here while we sleep, then we're fucked." 

"How many of them have you faced?" You ask, looking back up at him. 

"Well I killed one but--" 

"You've only killed one. I've had to kill more than a dozen, I think I know what we're up against." You state, holding up your hand for him to see your slightly bruised knuckles. "I want to keep the doors unlocked in case my family comes back."

"Fine." He sighs. "...Can I borrow your shower? My apartment building lost its water days ago."

"Yeah, I think you could use one." You say, trying not to snicker.

Sollux only responds with an eye roll and gets up off the bed. "Wow, thanks."

"I'll get some candles so it's not too dark around here." You add, getting up as well.

     You leave your room and walk into the kitchen to grab some candles out of the pantry and some matches out of one of the drawers. You light the scented candles, which provide a nice fragrance, one by one as you place each one in different parts of the living room, the kitchen, the main bathroom, and your room. They don't provide much light but it's just enough to see where you're going so you don't bump into a wall or any piece of furniture you don't see coming. As Sollux makes his way toward the bathroom, holding a few articles of clothing on one arm, you hand him a lit candle to light up the room.

"Here, it smells like honey." You say as he takes the candle. "I figured you'd like the smell." 

"Oh. Thanks." He says before he walks in and closes the door. 

     You walk into your own room and over to the window that reveals the street in front of your home. You look straight outside to check for any abnormalities and find none, that is before you hear a sudden explosion that sounds far away. You look out into the distance and see the glow from the city lights far away but there's a small spot near the middle with slightly more light and smoke begins to rise from that vicinity. You wish you could turn on the TV in the living room to watch the news but clearly there is no power in your entire living room. At least the water still works, although you're not sure how much longer you will have access to it. 

     Reassuring yourself that your neighborhood is still safe, you turn back around and jump onto your bed. As you lie there silently, you think about where Damara and your dad are and what they're doing this very minute. If they knew you were on your way to Sollux's apartment when you first left, they would have gone toward the city since that's where he lived, and you know the city is definitely the complete opposite of safe. You don't even want to think about the possibilities of what they could be going through right now, since all it's doing is making you worry, so you look for something to do that might distract you from your thoughts. You look around your bedroom and you see a few DVD's lying on your desk about historical documentaries you've wanted to watch someday and you remember your computer doesn't need internet to play DVD's. You grab one of them, and you carefully remove the CD and insert it into your laptop's disk drive. You spend the next 10-15 minutes watching the documentary in the comfort of your bed, until unfortunately your laptop's battery life dies. 

     You sigh and close your laptop before proceeding to put it on your desk. You stand there and look around, wondering what to do. You would go outside to do some digging but it's not exactly safe outside and you would rather not risk anything. You look down at the watch on your wrist, which reads 9:17pm. It's a good thing watch batteries last a while, it will let you keep track of the time and date for the next two or three months. You look down at your dresser and realize it would be quite uncomfortable to sleep in a pair of jeans, so you quickly remove them hoping that you aren't walked in on and you put on a pair of red polyester pajama pants and fold your jeans before putting them away. You remove your sweater and hang it up on a hook on the wall beside your closet door. You then proceed to brush your wet hair, which unfortunately due to its thickness takes a very long time to dry, struggling to get through its knots like usual. Not only is it thick but it's very curly and long as well so it normally takes more than 10 minutes to be able to brush just most of the knots out. As soon as you finish, you tie it up in a bun which loosely hangs low behind your head, leaving a few curls in front to frame your round face.

     You walk into the kitchen to grab a box of cereal out of the pantry and a carton of milk of the refrigerator. Once you pour some of each of those ingredients into a bowl, you put the box and carton away and stick a spoon into the bowl before delivering it to the small, round dining table along with a small cup of your favorite beverage, Minute Maid fruit punch. You figure that if the fridge stops working, you might as well have some of the things inside it before they spoil and then stink up the house. 

     Once you finish your meal, you wash your dishes in the sink and return to your room, blowing out the candles in the kitchen and living room on your way there. You sit on the side of your bed facing away from your bedroom door and you watch the outside of your window before Sollux returns to your room, wearing a black and yellow striped t-shirt and pair of gray sweatpants along with a small white towel around his neck to catch the drops of water that may drip from his messy and wet light brown hair as he holds his glasses in one of his hands. 

"What time is it?" He asks, looking around your room for a clock. 

You look down at your watch. "It's 10:32. We should probably get some rest." 

"Should I sleep on the couch?" 

"You don't have to. You could sleep here if you want." 

"What? But there's only one bed, wouldn't that be pretty weird?" 

"Relax, it's not like we'll be doing anything. I've had numerous sleep overs with Feferi and we would sleep in the same bed all the time." 

"Well yeah but that's different, you're both girls."

"So? What are you trying to say?" You tease with a smirk. "You don't have any sexual intentions do you?"

You see his face turning red. "No, no, that's not what I meant! I've just never slept with a girl before, that's it."

"Sollux, stop making things so weird and get in the bed." You say, using your hand to pat the spot next to you.

Putting his glasses down on the nightstand beside him, he sighs and reluctantly climbs into the bed. You roll your eyes.

"This is all we will be doing." You say as you climb in next to him and pull the blanket over the both of you. "Just lying down next to each other. Nothing else."

"Yeah, I get it." He mumbles, propping himself up on his elbows. "But what if your family comes in while we sleep and sees me in the same bed as you? Your dad already hates me, I'm at least 90% sure he will murder me."

"I'll make sure that doesn't happen." You rest your head on your pillow, facing him. "Did you blow out the candle in the bathroom?"

"Yeah."

     "Great. Let's get some rest now, we'll need our energy for whatever might happen tomorrow." You say before you blow out the only candle in your room which sits on your nightstand, then lying back down. As darkness takes over, Sollux lies down as well and on his back. After a few moments of silence, the two of you drift off into your slumber.


	14. The "Flu"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the power goes out and Tavros's condition gets worse, Nepeta and Feferi decide they need to leave their unsafe location and that they need to stay with Vriska's group for more security and safety. But when Vriska arrives instead of Equius and things go downhill, things no longer seem to turn out okay after all.

* Nepeta's POV * 

* * *

     The sun rests just over the horizon, casting a faint dotted light on the side of your home through the trees and woods that surround it. You're having yourself a nice meal while Feferi tends to Tavros, who lies sickly on the sofa in your small living room with a headache and minor body aches. You don't believe the illness is going to be as bad as you think but you can't be too sure, considering you barely even know anything about it. Every few hours during the night, you and Feferi had to get up to check on Tavros in order to make sure he was still alive and well. Fortunately he made it through the night but neither of you know how much longer he will live. 

     The power went out last night so you had to turn on the emergency power generator your family bought long ago for your home. You only noticed and turned it on this morning though and you really wish you could heat up some of the meat in your freezer but because you still have to wait for the contents to get cold again, you decided to grab a bag of beef jerky from your pantry instead. You really like meat. You woke up late this morning so you're the last one to eat breakfast, as Feferi already ate before you woke up however Tavros doesn't seem to have an appetite no matter how much you try to convince him that he needs to eat something in order to maintain his strength. Maybe his loss of appetite is a symptom of whatever illness he has? Who knows.

     As soon as you finish your bag of beef jerky, which you most certainly enjoyed, you begin to hear light tapping on the windows of your home and on your ceiling. It was slow at first but it shortly became to grow more rapid. You look out one of your windows to see that it has begun to rain, and not only that, but you hear a thunder as well. You hope your house doesn't get attacked by the undead, causing you to leave, because you're not exactly a huge fan of getting wet with water unless you're fulfilling your hygienic needs.

"I don't think this place is safe." Feferi states, looking over at you as she rests an ice pack on Tavros's forehead.

"I think we'll be just fine!" You say in your usual enthusiastic tone. You're trying to stay as optimistic as you can to get through the situation.

"The undead somehow found us here and our only source of food is the outside. Not to mention we barely even have weapons and Tavros is dying." She replies.

"Uh, I'm right here." Tavros points out, his voice slightly shaky. Feferi ignores him and keeps her eyes on you for a response.

"Purrhaps we could go to Vriska's house? She has a whole group there and that's where Equius and Eridan are."

"Eridan is there?" Feferi's eyes slightly widen.

You nod. "Aradia told me. She and Sollux are also there."

"They're together? In the same building?!" She exclaims.

"Of course! I ship them so much, you can never understand."

"How can you ship them? They hate each others guts."

"What?" You say, confused. "Really?"

"Of course! Ever since Sollux and I were together Eridan has had so much hatred for him even after we broke up and they have got into bad fights numerously."

"...Oh you were talking about those two." You start to blush with embarrassment.

"Duh. Who did you think I was talking about?"

"Nobody."

Feferi sighs. "But in regard to your earlier statement, I think going to Vriska's house would be a must. I need to prevent those two from murdering each other."

"I'll ask Equius to take us to Vriska's house since we can't walk there and don't have a vehicle."

     Feferi nods and turns back toward Tavros. You proceed to take your cell phone out of your pocket and you're glad to find you have still have signal and an internet connection. You open Pesterchum and look through your contacts. The only people online seem to be Feferi, Vriska, Kanaya, and Equius and you of course select Equius's chumhandle. Feferi is right there with you, Vriska gives you the creeps, and Kanaya wouldn't be able to help your situation.

\-- arsenicCatnip [AC] began pestering centaursTesticle [CT] \--  
AC: :33 > equius! we n33d your help  
CT: D --> What, why  
CT: D --> Are you under attack  
AC: :33 > we were last night and tafurros was bitten  
AC: :33 > hes furry sick and fefurry and i dont know how to help him get better :((  
AC: :33 > we want to join you to stay in vriskas house but we have no vehicle to drive  
CT: D --> I am assuming you want me to go over there and transport you to here  
AC: :33 > can you??  
CT: D --> I will ask Vriska and perhaps she will give me the order  
AC: :33 > dont mention tafurros being bitten!  
CT: D --> I suppose I will e%c100d that detail  
CT: D --> She ordered me to remain here and that she will pick you up  
AC: :33 > why?  
CT: D --> She would not give her reasoning but I am obligated to obey her rules and orders  
AC: XOO > fiiiine  
\-- arsenicCatnip [AC] ceased pestering centaursTesticle [CT] \--

     "Oh no!" You sigh, seeing that you've lost connection and signal. Not only did that happen but the power went off again and the generation went down. You know that thing is really old but you didn't think it would break down now of all times. Feferi sighs with disappointment and Tavros doesn't seem to respond. You put your phone back into your pocket and you grab your coat which lied on the back of the sofa.

"What did he say?" Feferi asks calmly.

"He can't come but Vriska will." You respond. You walk over to Tavros and kneel down on the floor next to Feferi. "Do you think you could pretend to not be so sick?"

"I don't think so." He groans. "My head hurts and so does my entire body."

"We could tell Vriska you caught the flu. If she knows what really happened, she won't let you come with us." Feferi says.

Tavros raises his blood-stained but bandaged hand. "What if she, uh, asks about this?"

"We'll say you cut it on a sharp branch in a bush."

"Fine. I guess I'll try to, hide it." He replies.

     The three of you discuss the trip to Vriska's house and other things for the next 10 minutes or so until you hear a vehicle park in front of your house. You and Feferi grab your belongings as well as Tavros's and you help him off of the sofa. Though he could barely walk, he was quite a lightweight so you and Feferi have an easy time guiding him outside of the house. As you leave the building, you find Vriska standing in front of her car, leaning against the hood, holding an umbrella above her head. You and Feferi didn't mind the water too much because you were focused on helping Tavros, but he seemed to be slightly aggravated by it.

"Hurry the hell up, I don't have all day!" She calls out, taking a few steps toward you.

Tavros groans and the three of you reach the car shortly.

"What's with him?" Vriska scowls.

"He has the flu and isn't doing so well." Feferi responds.

"Uh huh." Vriska doubtfully nods, looking down at Tavros. "And what happened to his hand?"

"He cut his hand on a bush!" You say. "It must have been painful and the cut was really deep."

"You guys think I'm stupid?" She exclaims, forcefully grabbing Tavros's wrist and unwrapping the bandage on his hand. "I know it's a bite and I know what the sickness looks like. The flu, my ass. You can't fool me and I'm sure as hell not contaminating my entire group with his sickness."

Tavros, who had kept his eyes on the ground until now, looks up at Vriska nervously. "I need help, I can't stay here."

"I'm not a doctor but I can definitely help." She says as she grabs a pistol out from a holster on her hips and raises it, aiming directly at his forehead.

"No!" You shout, but it's too late. The trigger is pulled, the gunshot rings, and his body hits the ground.

"Oh my God..." Feferi gasps.

     You two of you stand there with shock, but soon enough you extract the metal claws from your fingerless leather gloves and run at Vriska. Feferi wraps her arms around you and holds you back, but all you can think about is Vriska as murderer.

"Nepeta stop, this won't bring him back!" Feferi says.

"You just murdered him! He was asking for help and you killed him!" You shout, struggling to leave Feferi's grip and attack Vriska. 

     Vriska only stands there to watch you, lacking any hint of emotion on her face besides aggravation. You grunt and shout at her, attempting to slice her with your claws but her shamelessness only makes you even more angry. You continue to struggle but Feferi eventually pulls you away and reminds you that it's still unsafe in your area and that the two of you need to leave. You hold back not only tears but more rage against Vriska for the sake of not changing her mind about letting the two of you go with her. The three of you get into the car after retrieving Pounce de Leon and as the trip begins, you remain silent throughout the entire ride and so does Feferi, refusing to ever forgive Vriska for murdering your friend.

Maybe things won't be so okay after all.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright well it looks like I finally managed to kill off Tavros. Sorry guys! I thought this fic would be a bit more interesting if living people were killed too and not just those already dead. Also I'm no good at portraying Vriska, Equius, Eridan, Feferi, or Nepeta, so I may be skipping the chapters about them but I can assure you they are still important characters in the series. I guess they're just like those characters in a series that are shown for a bit but then leave for a long while but come back with important roles? Kinda like Morgan from The Walking Dead (you may recognize references from that series). But I'm not sure yet, we'll see. Next chapter will be about Karkat and his group, just like the regular cycle!


	15. Camouflage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karkat, Kanaya, and Terezi spend their first morning inside their new home. But before finding out Gamzee has gone missing, they make plans to travel to Vriska's house to meet up with up with friends while Terezi stays to watch their own house.

* Kanaya's POV *

* * *

     It's the day after you, Karkat, Terezi, and Gamzee found this house. As you wait for Karkat to finish his morning shower, you browse the large closet of your new home's master bedroom. It is nearly empty and so is the dresser, further proving that the residents most likely evacuated, however there still happens to be a multitude of garments inside. Some of the tops and bottoms themselves do not look that nice for your taste but you do have your ways of making great outfits with poorly designed clothing. It's one of those things that helps you get into fashion school; well you would be going if this apocalypse had never happened but you can't change the world. You guess if you can't go to school, that shouldn't stop you from looking great in any situation. Not that dirt that currently covers you didn't.

     You begin to try out a few outfits that involve quite a bit of mixing and matching. During this process, you conclude which garments you cannot wear, which you can adjust, and which look good with no change at all. You discovered a sewing room in the house so that's one thing that lightens your mood, considering it gives you more of an opportunity to create more clothing. Most of the material is thin however, but this is an advantage to the hot summer weather outside. You most likely will not need anything thick until winter approaches, or at least autumn. It can get quite chilly during autumn but you have taken many trips up north to tour different universities and visit distant family members so you have gotten a bit used to the cold weather.

     Shortly after you finish creating neatly sorted and organized piles of clothing on the bed, you browse shelf at the top of the closet to find a backpack you figure will come in handy. It doesn't look too special and is rather very simple with a soft green color, but it will have to do. Being as tall as you are, you reach for said backpack with ease and you grab it and rest it on the bed next to the clothes. You open it up to find nothing inside, just as expected, so you decide to take a marker you find on one of the nightstands by the bed and you write your name on the backpack, claiming it as your own. You suppose Karkat and Terezi may need one as well but you could only find one so you decide that you'll have to share your own and try to save room for their belongings.

Suddenly you hear the door open and Terezi walks in. She stops as soon as she sees you and then looks around.

"...Are you taking these people's clothes?" She asks.

"Oh. Well," you begin, looking down at the clothing and then back up at her. "Not exactly. I like to to think of it as donating."

"To yourself." She says.

"Look, I need a new outfit. I refuse to continue going about my life covered in my dirty and sweaty clothes from yesterday."

"Relax, I'm not going to call the cops or anything." She laughs, walking to the closet. "Did you empty this whole thing?"

"Yes. I sorted the clothing into piles of what I can wear, what I have to fix so that I can wear, and what anyone else may have."

"Huh. Is there is sewing room in here?"

You nod. "Absolutely."

"Nice. So what's in this big old pile here?" She pats the largest pile of clothing, which contains what you won't wear.

"Merely some garments that either don't fit me or are simply not to my liking." You reply. "You may take whatever you want from there if you want."

She takes one t-shirt and holds it just in front of her body. "These are a bit big on me but I guess it's better than nothing." She shrugs.

     She continues to look through the clothing in that one pile until the two of you hear a somewhat feminine scream from down the hallway. You and Terezi promptly drop what you're holding and rush to the bathroom door, you resting your hand on the knob and Terezi standing right next to you.

"Karkat?" Terezi calls.

"Is everything okay?" You ask.

"Yes," he calls back as the shower water is turned off. "We're out of hot water and now it's fucking freezing!"

You let go of the knob and sigh, bringing your hand to your forehead while Terezi starts to laugh.

"You doofus, you scared us with your girly scream." She says.

"Oh shut the fuck up, at least my screams don't sound like I pulled a nail out of my ass and dragged it across a chalkboard." He replies.

Shortly you hear footsteps and rustling behind the door. "Shit, does anyone have a clean set of clothes?" He continues.

"Yes, I have a few in the master bedroom. I'll bring them to you." You reply.

     You go back into the bedroom and return with a black t-shirt and a pair of cargo shorts along with a clean pair of boxers. You knock on the bathroom door and it's opened slightly with only Karkat's wet arm sticking out but no other part of his body visible through the crack, and you hand him the clothes before he closes the door once again. Terezi then leaves and walks into the kitchen, while you wait for Karkat to leave the bathroom. After hearing more footsteps and rustling, he comes out and gives you his signature death stare.

"Camouflage cargo shorts? Really?" He complains.

"It's the only thing left I could find in your size." You reply.

     He then hands you his dirty clothes and walks into the living room, and you can hear Terezi's cackles as you walk into the laundry room across from the master bedroom and throw the clothing into the laundry basket. You then proceed to walk to the living room where Karkat sits on the sofa and Terezi stands in the kitchen. She picks up a small note and reads it silently before looking up at you and Karkat (who is not even facing her).

"I found a note on the counter. I think we're allowed to take whatever we want in here." She says.

"Hm? Why?" You ask.

She then begins to read aloud. "It says this: 'Take what you need and God bless.'. Before they left, they must have left some things behind on purpose for any survivors who might have wandered in here needing it. Like us."

"Let's consider ourselves lucky then." Karkat suggests. "But it's not enough. We'll need to go on runs and get more supplies eventually if we're going to live. This shit isn't unlimited, you know."

"Don't be a downer, let's not worry about that now. We should just take the time to enjoy what we have now."

"I do agree with Terezi but as long as our enjoyment is not too loud. Remember this neighborhood is infested with the undead, if we make too much noise and one of the corpses outside can hear us then we could get swarmed like before." 

Terezi sighs. Then Karkat turns his head to look at you. "Do you have your phone with you?"

You shake your head. "I do but I'm afraid the battery died earlier this morning. May I ask why you need it?"

"So I can check Pesterchum. I want to know if anyone else is okay."

"Well I talked to Vriska yesterday she she is safe inside her house with Equius and Eridan. Sollux and Aradia are also there. I'm not too sure about anyone else at the moment."

He stands up as soon as you finish your response. "We have to go over there."

"With what car?" Terezi asks.

"We can break into one of the few cars outside and use that." He replies.

"What will we do once we arrive at her house?" You ask.

Karkat sighs. "We can figure that out as soon as we get there, I just want to see my other friends. Gamzee can stay here while you and Terezi and I can go. Once we figure things out we can come back here. Simple as that."

Terezi looks around the room. "But I can't find Gamzee. I looked in all the rooms and he isn't here or outside."

"What?!" Karkat stands up and turns toward Terezi. "Where the fuck did he run off to?"

Terezi shrugs. "I don't know. But wherever he is, I'd rather not be with him."

"Well I can't argue with that. Then I guess you could stay here while Kanaya and I go to Vriska's house."

"Sounds good to me." She replies.

"But what if you are attacked while we are gone?" You ask.

"Don't worry! I can use my cane to beat up anyone who tries to hurt me." She smiles and holds up her cane.

     With that, you and Karkat further discuss your plans and then pack a few supplies before heading out with your weapons. Carefully avoiding any of the corpses wandering around outside, Karkat manages to use a crowbar he found in the house to break the car window (which thankfully did not trigger an alarm). He and you get inside, and you drive the car out of the neighborhood and make your way to Vriska's house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was kinda in a rush to get this chapter done so sorry if it's kinda bad.


	16. Something More

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning after they arrive at Aradia's house, she excitely expects her family to have arrived only to find that they haven't. But when Sollux makes a mistake and gives her a confession, things go a lot better than he had anticipated.

* Sollux's POV *

* * *

     You wake up to a calm environment as a bit of sunlight shines through the bedroom window. The ceiling fan above you is still and so is everything else in the room. The soft rain outside pitter-patters on the windows and the roof, and the warm blanket on your body surrounds you with warmth. Not that it's not already warm but it gets pretty cold during the night. You yawn and stretch your arms before rubbing your eyes, and you wonder if you should get out of bed or if you should stay where you are. You're not dead so you know Aradia's family still hasn't returned from wherever they went, and you're not sure whether it's a good thing or a bad thing. You guess it's good for you because Aradia's family isn't exactly fond of you but yet it's bad for Aradia because of course they're her family. You're just not sure how she will take the news of their continuous lack of presence. 

     You sit up and look down to your right to see Aradia still sleeping next to you, which honestly you find surprising because you've always thought she was a morning person. You never knew for sure though because you've never had a sleepover with her before (or anyone in the same bed, really) on a night that wasn't before school, but judging by the fact that it's nearly 12:30pm according to her watch, you guess she's actually more of a noon person. Either that or she was just really tired last night. 

     You can't help but to stare and admire her; just the way she looks so peaceful and snug under her blanket, her frizzy hair tied up in a messy bun, a loose curl resting on her face. You're used to seeing her really excited about lots of things and you love seeing her so happy but seeing her asleep just gives you a warm feeling. Not that that's new, considering you pretty much have a gigantic crush on her. Shit, you should probably stop staring now because it looks like she's waking up. 

     She simply yawns and turns over so that she's on her back, rubbing her eyes and then resting her hands on her pillow above her head before giving off one last exhale and returning to silence. But just a couple of seconds later she opens her eyes and looks around before seeing you, prompting a small smile. 

"Good morning." She says softly. 

You start to blush a bit and hope she doesn't notice. "Uh, morning." You reply awkwardly, clearing your throat. 

"I hope you didn't feel too awkward to sleep last night." She giggles, propping herself up on her elbows, her hair nearly falling out of her hair tie. 

You don't know how to respond. 

"I'm just joking," she says with a wide grin. "Why are you blushing so much?" 

"What? I'm not!" You say, blushing even more. Shit, why can't you stop? 

She sits up and rests her hands on her lap, maintaining eye contact and a smile. "Yes you are. Jeez it's so adorable how you get so flustered at the weirdest things." 

"...You think I'm adorable?" You ask. Does she like you back? That would be pretty surprising to you. But she's probably just calling you adorable in a platonic way; she's done it to Karkat and her other friends a few times. 

"Well that's not what I was talking about but yeah, I always thought you were." She says, beginning to blush herself. Why is _she_ blushing? 

You clear your throat. You have to change the subject. "Did your family return yet?" You blurt out. God that was a stupid question. How the fuck would she know? She just woke up. 

Aradia looks down, her smile fading away. "I dunno. I have to check!" She says, jumping off the bed with her excitement and hurrying out the room. 

     You get up and follow her, and she excitedly checks all the rooms of her house. After each room she finds empty, her excitement dies down until she comes to a stop in the living room. The room remains quiet as she tries to figure out why her family did not return yet; she removes her hair tie and lets her long hair fall before she pulls some of it over her shoulder and starts to run her hands through it, a thing she normally does when she's upset or nervous.

"I don't understand. Why aren't they back yet?" She says, looking down before she turns around to look up at you. 

You barely even know what to say. You're no good at comforting people. "Sorry. I, uh... they should be back. Soon." 

     She gulps and looks to the side. You really hope you could comfort her, but once again, it's not exactly a thing you're good at. She's been there for you when you needed her the entire seven years you've known her and she's the one person you could ever cry in front of and on the day she potentially loses her family, you can't even figure out how to comfort her. Whenever she comforts you, she talks to you and let's you know things will be okay and sometimes she even hugs you when she knows you need it. You're not good at the talking part, and you'd offer her a hug but you're not sure she'd be okay with that even though she is generally a hugger.  

"Aradia?" You say. 

She turns back to look up to you, her grief and sadness obvious in her expression. 

"Do you, uh... do you need a hug? Or..." Well you tried. 

     She smiles a bit before she walks over to you and wraps her arms around you tightly, pulling you into a hug and burying her face in your shoulder. You blush once more and you hold her gently, one hand on her lower back and the other rubbing her upper back. You rarely hug others so you of course feel awkward at this moment, but usually when it's Aradia you're sharing a hug with, you actually feel comfort. You don't usually open up to people because when you do, you are either mocked or called a pansy. Karkat would would yell at you, Mituna would make fun of you, Feferi and your dad would try too hard to be comforting and were normally forceful, but Aradia is different from all of them. You two have that relationship where you could be sarcastic and play mean to each other without either of you taking it personally but when you're upset or anxious or something is wrong, Aradia would know. She would be patient and give you the time and space you need. She's never forceful and always knows what to say, not to mention she never mocks you and always keeps your emotional breakdowns between just the two of you. It's just that level of closeness you have with her that makes you so comfortable with her, and that's one of the things you love the most about her. You wish you could tell her how you feel about her, but you know now isn't the right time. Instead, you take your time to enjoy the hug, the warmth of her body pressed up against yours. 

     She pulls away after about 30 seconds, which felt like a while, and looks you in the eye as she rests her hands on your shoulders, you not even noticing you have your hands on the sides of her waist. 

"Thanks." She says softly with a smile. You can tell your rare act of affection really meant a lot to her by the gratitude in her voice. 

You can't help but to give her a small smile. "Yeah." 

The two of you stay like that for a few seconds before you decide that can't wait any longer to tell her. "Aradia can I tell you something?" You say, your cheeks turning red. 

"Of course." She responds. 

"I, uh..." You begin, but you can't seem to finish. You don't even know how to tell her. You don't even know if you can do it. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you for a while." 

"What is it? Is everything okay?" She asks. 

"Yeah. It's just that I..." You reply nervously.

     Shit, you can't do it. Part of you so desperately wants to tell her but there's that voice in the back of your head telling you that she would never feel the same. No matter how hard you're trying, you can't find the words to use. How are you supposed to let her know without words? Clearly, talking isn't working out too well for you. You start to feel anxious and she looks at you with concern. Soon enough you panic and, without even thinking, you just lean in and kiss her as if that would work and get the message through to her but she's too surprised to respond. 

     Holy fuck you truly are an idiot. After taking a good 5 seconds to realize what you're doing, you immediately pull away, leaving her speechless and surprised. You're kind of thankful you're not wearing your glasses right now; you would be a lot more anxious if you could actually see the disgust Aradia probably feels about you at the moment. 

"Oh my God..." You say. "I can't believe I did that. I... I'm sorry." You say, covering your face with your hands and turning around. God you feel so ashamed of yourself, you can't even look at her. 

"Sollux," she says. 

You sigh. "Look, I love you, okay?" You interrupt, turning back around to face her. "I'm in love with you and I have been for a while. But, I've always denied it at first because I don't want to ruin what we have now and you deserve someone so much better than anyone as shitty as I am." 

"That's not true." She responds. "I think you're amazing." 

"...You do?" 

"Of course. Sure you may not feel so happy everyday and you can get pretty grumpy at times but that doesn't make you a bad person. You can do so many cool things with a computer and you're really smart and you're great with video games and I love playing with you because seeing you happy is one of my favorite things. But just because we're close friends, that doesn't mean we can't be anything more. I feel the same same way and I'm willing to try out a relationship." 

"What? Really? You... you wanna be my girlfriend?" 

Her cheeks turn red and she smiles. "If you're okay with it." 

Wow you think you just nailed it. "Yeah. I'd like that." 

     She smiles wider before she walks up to you and hugs you, and you can't help but to hug her back tightly. You're surprised your little panic attack didn't scare her away and now you can't believe she's your girlfriend now. You couldn't help but to smile a bit at the thought of the two of you as an actual couple. 

"Uh, sorry again for that kiss." You say, hoping she isn't mad at you about it. 

"You're sorry?" She says as she pulls away to look up at you with a smile. "The only thing you should be sorry about is not giving me a chance to kiss you back." 

     Wait, she liked it? Wow. You blush even more at what she just said. Does she want you to kiss her again? It seems like she does so you might as well; it's not like you would mind. You smile and lean in to kiss her again, and she eagerly returns the gesture. She wraps her arms around your neck to pull you closer and deepen the kiss, and you hold her tightly by her waist. You're pretty sure your entire face has turned red by now but you let go of your troubled thoughts to enjoy your time with Aradia, finally able to express to her the feelings you never thought she would return. Like she said, you may be close friends but that doesn't mean you can't be something more. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay they finally kissed! This makes me very happy because I love this ship to bits. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as much as I did uvu I've never written fluff before and have never had romantic experiences so please forgive me if any of this is a bit off-putting.


	17. Bad Neighborhood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Aradia faces the possibility of her family's worst possible scenario, the safety of her own neighborhood deteriorates.

* Aradia's POV *

* * *

      Today isn't exactly a day you thought would ever happen, or at least anytime soon. You have been hoping to see your family return home today, despite it already having been almost 24 hours. Your dad has gotten on your nerves whenever he was in a bad mood and yelled at you and your sister, and Damara did as well. You did always hate the yelling you got as the youngest child and you did look forward to moving out and going to college already to become an archeologist like you've always wanted but the world seems to have had different plans and now you miss your family. You want to see your dad and your sister walk in through the front door and you want to hug them and tell them you're sorry for leaving them to get lost or hurt or whatever happened; that's the day you've expected to have today. But instead, you're standing in the middle of the living room kissing your best friend. Well, you should probably start calling him your boyfriend now but it's not impossible to be both at the same time.

     You admit it was kind of a weird timing to start suspecting your family members may have died and then suddenly your best friend is confessing his love for you but you guess it's good you have something else to distract you from blaming yourself for your family's disappearance. It's not that you're not enjoying your time right now though, you are enjoying it quite a bit. 

     You never could quite understand what you had been feeling for Sollux these past few weeks. All those butterflies in your stomach, those quick heartbeats, those weird extra feelings of affection and admiration and your desires to be with him more often. Feferi once pointed out your crush on him but despite knowing it was a possibility, you didn't want to believe it and you felt awkward hearing such a suggestion from his ex-girlfriend. Thinking about your feelings for him always made you nervous and it all confused you until Sollux told you that he was in love with you. When he said those words, that's when you knew for sure what your feelings were and that's when you knew that you love him back. It's just like in those weird cheesy romantic movies that Karkat has forced you and his few other friends to watch at least once, which you find is pretty corny but you don't mind one bit. You admit you were pretty surprised to hear Sollux's confession though, despite having caught him staring at you or blushing a few times in the past few months. 

     He's always been more of the type to keep his feelings closed off inside rather than opening up to people, but you can't really argue with that since you can be a bit introverted too once in a while. You're more of an extrovert but you're usually only open with your good friends Tavros and Feferi, sometimes Terezi too. Karkat doesn't offer very good advice so you don't talk to him about your problems that much, and you usually refrain from talking about them with Sollux too despite him being more open with you. You guess you're just so used to being the comforting friend in the relationship that you feel like being the one who needs comfort yourself makes you seem like the baby. It's either that or you just don't want to worry your friends when they already have other bad things on their mind, you can't tell for sure. You think Feferi is the only one who has ever seen you upset enough to cry, whether it's because of a movie or family issues, but you like to keep your friends happy so you prefer to maintain a positive atmosphere for all of them. 

     Your stomach briefly growls, reminding you that you hadn't eaten breakfast yet, and then you realize that you hadn't brushed your teeth either so now you're probably kissing Sollux with disgusting morning breath. He seems to be into the kiss just as much as you are so he probably doesn't even notice, but you pull away anyway, resting your hands on his shoulders while his are on your waist. Your cheeks turn red and you couldn't help but to smile. 

"We, uh... we should probably have some breakfast." You say. 

"Yeah." He clears his throat, blushing and smiling a bit as well. "We probably should." 

     You step back and walk into the kitchen to check on the refrigerator. As soon as you open it up, you notice a foul smell and you have no doubt it's the milk and whatever is inside the freezer. Leaving the fridge door open, you check the freezer and the smell gets even worse. A sigh of grave despair passes your lips as you realize you can no longer eat those dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets you love so much. You remember the day Tavros first shared his chicken nuggets with you and you got hooked. Damara would sometimes tease you about it because anything dinosaur-shaped is apparently for children but you refused to believe so. Oh well, you guess it's time to throw out the box. You take it and stack other boxes and bags of frozen microwaveable foods on top of it in one hand and the gallon container of spoiled milk in the other.

"Nearly everything in the fridge and in the freezer has already gone bad." You complain as you put the milk and frozen foods down onto the floor. 

"What? Really?" Sollux responds, turning his head to look at you as he sits on the sofa. 

"Yeah. I don't know what we can eat without the power to heat anything up." You open a cupboard door under the sink and pull out a garbagebage before stuffing everything inside. 

"That's bullshit." He says, standing up to groom through the kitchen pantry. 

     After you close the garbage bag, you stand up and walk toward the front door, carrying the bag over your shoulder. Sollux follows you outside the house as you walk to the side where the garbage cans are. You open one of the cans and drop the garbage bag inside.

"Now what are we going to eat?" He complains.

"I don't know. I guess we'll figure that out later." You say. You look down at the garbage can in front of you. "I wonder if the garbage trucks will still come..."

Silence ensues briefly.

"Is that smoke?" Sollux asks, prompting you to turn around.

You look up in the sky to see one large puff of smoke rising from not too far away behind a house in front of yours. "I think that's coming from the gas station just outside the neighborhood." You point out.

     Soon enough two helicopters fly right over your house and toward the direction of the smoke, and a few neighbors stand outside the fronts of the surrounding houses to examine the smoke in the sky. After about a minute of watching the scene, an explosion erupts exactly in the spot of the smoke, causing more to rise. The slight breeze blows the smoke in the direction of your neighborhood and now you are able to just slightly smell it. 

"I don't think this place is going to be safe for much longer." You say. 

"We should get out of here." Sollux suggests before he goes back to the house. 

You follow him inside. "But where are we going to go?" You ask, closing the door behind you. 

"I don't know." He replies, standing in the middle of the living room running his fingers through his unruly hair. 

"My family hasn't gotten back yet, we can't just leave!" You exclaim, your voice slightly cracking. 

"Aradia, the town is overrun and full of riots and fire and now a gas station just a block or two away from this neighborhood just exploded. Chances are that the infection or virus or whatever the fuck it is has already spread and if we stay here, I don't think we'll even make it." 

     You sigh and look down at your feet before turning around to look at a group of picture frames that sit on a small end table beside the TV in the living room. One small frame holds a photograph of your high school senior portrait while another one of the same size next to it holds Damara's portrait. The sight of how similar the two of you look in those photos have always made you feel a bit closer to your sister in some way you can't explain. Disregarding your current age difference, you both have the same skin tone, the same facial features, the same thick curly hair; you might as well call her your twin. The only difference is that Damara is a lot skinnier and slightly shorter than you are, she straightens her hair which is a lot shorter than yours, and she wears more make up than you do. While you normally wear a bit of black eyeliner and occasionally red lipstick, she normally wears that but with thicker eyeliner as well as some red eyeshadow. You just wish she was as nice and happy as she looked. 

     The larger picture frame that stands behind and in between the two smaller ones holds an old photograph of you, Damara, and your father standing together on your trip to Japan. You remember you were 9 years old at the time and Damara was 15; this was of course while Damara was still the sweet and happy sister you had. She had convinced your dad to take the two of you to Japan during the summer so she could learn more about her home country and you thought it was fun too so he ended up agreeing. He had a small smile on his face while you and Damara were smiling as wide as your facial muscles would allow and you remember having a great time with your family. Luckily your father wasn't as mean as you'd describe him all the time. Sure he held you and your sister to high standards and wanted you to be perfect but he didn't force you. He didn't force you to study every night but rather let bad grades be your punishment. He didn't lock you in the house to prevent you from going out digging but rather lectured and then grounded you when you returned; that is, if you got caught (It's a good thing you and Damara could keep each other's secrets from your dad and you had friends who were willing to lie about you visiting them to cover you while you went somewhere else). Despite being a former member of some gang called The Midnight Crew, he always had a family-oriented side to him. He taught you how to play the saxophone with him when you were younger and you ended up being a part of your middle school's music band while he would help Damara pick out some manga books and anime tapes. Occasionally he would take the two of you to places too. You miss when your family was so happy. 

"Look, I'm sorry but I don't think you're family is coming back." Sollux continues. "If they were, they would have been here by now."

You think for a moment and let out a sigh. "Fine. Just let me pack my things."

     With that, you walk past him and you go into your bedroom. You pick up your maroon red school backpack, which you still hadn't cleared out since you graduated high school, and you dump the contents onto your bed. You grab your sweater from a hook on the wall and you put it on. Deciding it's thick and warm enough, you're pretty sure you won't need to grab another one. You grab a few t-shirts and pairs of pants and stuff them into your backpack along with other articles of clothing like underwear and socks. You would hate to be caught up in an apocalypse without any of those. You remember to insert your hairbrush and a few hair ties into the backpack too. It's important to keep your hair manageable and you might need to tie it up so it can't be grabbed by the undead. After taking just enough clothes to nearly fill up the biggest pocket of your backpack, you grab Sollux's glasses from one of the nightstands beside your bed and you head into the kitchen to grab some dry foods from your pantry. You focused on getting foods that didn't need to be heated or refrigerated but you brought a few canned goods just in case you're able to build a campfire. You take a few water bottles and stuff them into the last room you have left inside your backpack and you stuff a knife and a pair of scissors into one of the side pockets.

"Are you ready?" Sollux asks, standing by the front door with his own backpack over his shoulder.

"Yeah." You say, throwing your backpack over your shoulder. Then you pause. "Wait, my dad has a gun."

"Great, you should get that too."

"But what if... what if my dad comes back and he needs it to protect himself?"

"Well you're his daughter and if he's not a shitty father he would understand that you need something to protect yourself too and he would want you to have it."

"But--" You begin, but you're interrupted by the sound of multiple distant screams from outside in your neighborhood as well as car tires screeching and vehicles crashing.

"You have to get that gun!" Sollux exclaims.

     You panic and hurry into your father's room. You open the drawer on one of the nightstands beside his bed and inside lies the loaded pistol. You take a moment before you grab the gun and stuff it in your pocket, close the drawer, and hurry back over to Sollux who anxiously waits by the front door. You let him know you're ready and he grabs his jacket and puts it on as he opens the door and the two of you quickly enter his car. As he starts it up and pulls out of the driveaway, the screams from the neighbors begin to get closer and the car goes down the road with speed.


	18. Selfish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kanaya and Karkat meet up with Vriska but things go hectic as new information is learned.

* Karkat's POV *

* * *

     After your 20 minute drive, even though you were not actually behind the wheel, you and Kanaya had finally made it safe and sound to Vriska's house. The two of you had encountered some of the dead along the secluded roads but thankful there were no herds large enough to stop the car. It was as easy as just driving past them as if they didn't exist. You spent the majority of the car ride wondering if Terezi is okay and what she had been doing while you were gone but since you have no means of communication you decide that wondering will be pointless in actually doing anything about her. 

"What do you want?" Comes a familiar voice as the front door swings open, revealing none other than Eridan Ampora standing in the doorway.

"Wow aren't you just a fucking ray of sunshine today." You respond with snark. "Anyway what are you doing here?" 

"A whole herd a those dead assholes attacked my fuckin' home so I made an arrangement with Vris and now I'm stayin' here. Eq is here too but he's helpin' her build a defense system for this place." He replies, crossing his arms. "Now why are _you_ here?" 

Before you could answer, Kanaya walks up beside you, adjusting her red floral skirt which accents her white blouse. She then looks up to see Eridan, her small smile fading away. "Oh. Eridan." She says, the disappointment obvious in her voice.

"Kan." He says, stepping back. Judging by how awkward he feels, you guess he still hasn't gotten over the time Kanaya beat him up in front of Vriska late last year. 

"...Where is Vriska?" 

"She went out to get Fef, Nep, and Tav because they can't seem to muster up the strength to deal with the apocalypse themselves an would rather whine like children." He replies.

"What the fuck are you talking about? You just said you're staying with Vriska because your house was fucking overrun by the dead." You remark.

"Well I'm different!" He says, his voice getting just slightly louder. "I actually tried to fight them off."

"And yet here you are." Kanaya joins in.

Eridan groans with irritation. "You know what, to hell with you all. I have to go back to babysittin' the sweaty fool an make sure he doesn't break any more of our guns."

He turns around to walk back inside before suddenly coming to a stop and then turning back around to face you and Kanaya again. "But before I go, I need to remind you that you still haven't answered my question. Why are you here?"

"We need to get So--" You try before being cut off by Kanaya. 

"We'll just wait for Vriska." She says. You sigh.

"Fine, you can wait inside. Just don't cause a ruckus." Eridan growls before walking in.

     Kanaya smirks and you follow her inside. The two of you enter Vriska's living room, which is surprisingly neat and tidy considering that Vriska lives here. You look around the room in awe when you realize just how big and roomy the house is; you have never been here before and you have always expected her house to be messy and wooden like a pirate ship, partially because Vriska reminds you of a pirate. Of course you can't blamed for that comparison though, considering she has a history of thievery and used to ear an eye patch before and a little bit after eye surgery following an unfortunate accident a few years ago. She had accidentally detonated an explosive, which she somehow got a hold of (you seriously wonder where she even got one), and it blew off her left arm and burned the left half of her upper body. Of course with the help of cosmetic surgery, she was able to have the left half of her face partially reconstructed (the burn scars never completely healed) and her damaged eye which had lost its sight had to be replaced with one made of glass to look just like the right one, unaffected at all. Of course these are in addition to her robotic prosthetic arm which Equius had built for her, but that thing always creeped you out and you're not sure why.

     After a moment of reminiscing, Kanaya interrupts the silence shortly after she takes a seat on one of the soft sofas in the room and makes sure that Eridan is no longer in the room to listen in on the conversation.

"I will wait here for Vriska to return. Feel free to go look for Sollux and Aradia." She says.

"Wait," You reply. "Why did you cut me off back there?"

"What do you mean?"

"I was about to tell Eridan that we came to get Sollux and Aradia but you interrupted me and mentioned Vriska before I could even finish."

"Clearly Eridan isn't fond of Sollux in the slightest. If he knew that Sollux is part of our reason for being here, he would refuse to cooperate and possibly not even let us inside. We had a higher chance of being allowed inside if we had mentioned anyone else."

"Well you could have at least told me not to mention Sollux." You conclude before turning around to search the house.

"Sorry, I guess I was preoccupied by my own thoughts." She shrugs. "I was a tad bit excited to see Vriska again after our brief separation."

"Wait, you broke up?" You stop in your tracks and turn your head back.

"No, no. We got into an argument before this world entered its current state and we hadn't spoken for the last few days. Our relationship itself was not ended, only our communication for a brief period of time until I was ready to forgive her for her wrongdoings."

"What did she do?"

Kanaya hesitates for a moment. "She kissed Tavros. I don't understand why she did it and she refused to tell me but I was afraid she tried to cheat on me so I called her a selfish... well, the point is, I was angry at her without listening to her side of the story."

You're quick to turn back around to face her. "Her side of the story? She fucking cheated on you, intentional or not, she kissed someone else while she was in a relationship with you. How could you possibly defend what she did?"

     She opens her mouth to respond, but is interrupted when the front door to your left swings open. In walks Vriska, with Nepeta and Feferi following her. Without giving you so much as a glance, Nepeta walks into a different room with no sign of positive emotions whatsoever. You find this surprising considering she's had feelings for you for the past few years and usually greeted you ecstatically, but you guess you wouldn't blame her being upset right now seeing as she had to spend time with Vriska. You know she isn't exactly fond of Vriska, but you couldn't help but to wonder why she's so suddenly angry. Once she's gone, Vriska and Feferi both stop once they see you. Feferi doesn't look too happy either and Kanaya seems to notice too. _Jeez, what the fuck happened?_

"Oh hey... guys." She says, rubbing the back of her neck with one of her hands. Clearly she and Kanaya had a rough time recently.

"Vriska," Kanaya gets up off the sofa and walks over to her for a hug. "I'm sorry for what happened that day."

Vriska's eyes widen as she is embraced by the other girl. "Yeah I think we've already established that yesterday." She says awkwardly, but hugging her back anyway. "And you don't even have any reason to be sorry, I'm the one who messed things up."

As they resume their conversation, Feferi turns toward you.

"Hey Karcrab." She says.

"Hey." You greet her with confusion. "What the fuck happened to Nepeta?"

"It's not exactly what happened to _her_ that we had a bad time with." She crosses her arm and twirls a lock of her hair, looking down at her feet.

"What do you mean? What did Vriska do?" You inquire.

"Whale, we were initially trying to come here with Tavros but he was attacked by the dead late last night. He was bitten and we bandaged it up but he got sick. When Vriska came to pick us up this morning, we tried to cover up Tavros' sickness by saying it was the flu but she knew we were lying and she... she shot him!" She blurts out.

"She what?!" You say.

Feferi shakes her head. "Tavros is dead."

"You killed Tavros?!" You hear. You and Feferi turn to look at Kanaya who immediately pulls away from the hug with Vriska.

"He would have put my group in danger!" Vriska points out with frustration. "I wasn't going to let him die in here and infect us so I thought putting him out of his misery was the way to go. It's not like he was strong enough to survive this world anyway."

"I can't believe you." Kanaya says furiously. "First you kiss him while you are in a relationship with me and then you murder him? He had as much a right to live as do any of us, but you chose not to consider that and rather chose to only consider yourself."

She then crosses her arms and turns her back. "And frankly, I don't see why this came as such a surprise to me."

Suddenly Eridan comes up and stands next to you to observe the commotion. "What happened here?" He asks.

Not wasting any time, Feferi moves toward Eridan, causing you to move back to clear her path. "Eridan!" She says. "Where's Sollux?"

He merely gives her a weirded out look in response. "What do you want him for? He left."

Feferi's eyes widen in surprise. "What?" She says with disappointment. "Why? Where did he go?"

Eridan scoffs. "I don't fuckin' know, we kicked him out and Ara went with him."

"You kicked them both out?!" Feferi nearly shouts with anger, grabbing the attention of Vriska and Kanaya. 

"No, fuck you're not listenin' to me, Fef! We only kicked out Sol. We were okay with Ara stayin' but she decided to go with him. She wanted to go."

"Wait, wait," You blurt out, joining their conversation with your hands raised slightly. "You're meaning to tell us that Sollux is gone and so is Aradia so Kanaya and I came here for no fucking reason?" 

"Why the fuck am I always the bad guy?" Eridan groans before turning around and simply walking away.

"Hey, we are not done here mister!" Feferi follows him before you stop her.

"Feferi, wait." You say.

She turns around to face you. "What?"

"You could come with us to find them." You offer.

She opens her mouth to speak but then thinks for a moment. "I wish I could but I have to babysit Mister Grumpy Gills in the other room. I think it's best that I make sure that he doesn't get anyone killed."

You sigh. "Fine. Just... don't die."

"Sorry Crabkat! Maybe next time when everything here isn't so hectic. I'll sea you then." She hurries into the other room before you turn back to face Kanaya.

"Well, looks like coming here was a fucking waste. Let's get back to Terezi." You head over to front door, expecting Kanaya to follow you.

"That sounds favorable. Oh, and Karkat?" She says.

You stop as you put your hand on the door knob.

Kanaya glances at Vriska before she walks over to you. "You were right. Now you may consider me and her broken up."

"What?!" Vriska exclaims.

     Kanaya ignores her and motions for you to head out, and you do so as she follows behind you. You head back to the car and return to your spot in the front passenger seat while Kanaya takes the driver's spot. As she pulls the vehicle out of the driveway, you keep your eyes on Vriska's house until the car moves far enough away for the roadside trees to obstruct the view of the estate. You look up at the sky instead to see enormous puffs of dark smoke rising into the atmosphere in the direction of the city. What concerns you is that they weren't there before and that there weren't just one or two but were rater move than five in quantity. You didn't think much of it though, of course there would be riots in a world situation like this but you're sure it's under control. It has to be, right? Two minutes of silence and staring out the windows pass by until you decide that breaking that silence would relieve a bit of the tension in the car.

"Where do you think they could have gone?" You ask.

Kanaya remains silent for a moment. "Perhaps either one of their homes. But seeing as they seem to have had accurate reasons to rather go to Vriska's house, their own homes may not be safe."

"But there's no way to know for sure."

She sighs. "I suppose simply looking wouldn't hurt, but I suggest we at least notify Terezi beforehand. She wouldn't appreciate being abandoned for something she could want to participate in."

You nod. "Yeah. I guess we could talk more about it with her." 

And with that, the two of you continue to make your way back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh man, sorry for the long wait. I haven't had much inspiration and motivation for ideas but since I have summer vacation now, I should be able to get more done. Plus I uploaded this at 4:20am so that's a plus! B)


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